I LIBRARY OF congress! 



UNITED STATES OP AMERICA 



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LONDON: I'lJINTrn l;V ^VU.UAM C.UAVl-S AND SO?JS, STAMKOfiO STUKKT 



AND fllARlNG CROSS. 



LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS. 



Page 

i. Ornamental Border to Title. — At 
the top, the arms of Edw. YI., 
from a gateway at Penshurst ; 
on the left, Portrait of Cran- 
mer, from Picture at Lambeth; 
on the right. Portrait of Rid- 
ley, after Vanderwerf ; at the 
bottom, Lambeth Palace, from 
an old Print, 
vii. Theologia.— Eaffaelle. 
xxi. Interior of St. Paul's Cathedral. 
— Architectural Border, composed 
chiefly from parts of the edifice, 
xxvii. Exterior of St.Paul's Cathedral. 

Morning Prayer. 

1 Interior of Canterbury Cathedral. 

— Architect. Border, composed chiefly 

from parts of the Cathedral. 

— I. L.— ' Rend your heart, and not 

your garments,' Ahab, 1 Kings 
xxi. 29. 

2 I. L.— Christ exhorting his Dis- 

ciples. 

3 I. L. and Ornament— Prayer and 

Confession. 

4 I. L.— Absolution. 

6 I. L.— From Flaxman's Illustra- 

tions of the Lord's Prayer—' Our 
Father which art in Heaven.' 

7 I. L.— King David. From Albert 

Durer's Prayer-Book. 

8 Exterior of Canterbury Cathedral. 

9 Cherubin and Seraphin— Sir J OS. 

Reynolds. 

— I. L. and Ornament— 'To thee all 

angels cry aloud.' 
11 I. L. 'O ye children,' &c. 

13 I. L.— Zachaiias, S. Luke i. 67. 

14 I. L.— 'O be joytul in the Lord.' 

15 Faith. -Sir J. Reynolds. 

— I. L. and Ornament— Prayer. 

17 I. L.— From Flaxman's Illustra- 

tions of the Lord's Prayer — 
' Hallowed be thy Name.' 

18 I. L.— Emblem of Peace. 

19 I. L. and Ornament — 'Defend us 

with thy mighty power.' 

— I. L. — Royal Arms. 

20 I. L.— Prayer. 

21 I. L.— Prayer. 

— I. L.— St. Chrysostom. 

22 I. L.— Blessing. 

— Interior of Henry Tilth's Chapel. 



Page 

gathered together in thy Name,' 
&c. 

37 Interior of King's College Chapel, 

Cambridge. 

38 I. L.— St. Athanasius. 

The Litany. 
42 Interior of Westminster Abbey. 

— Architectural Border, composed 

chiefly from parts of the Abbey. 

— I. L.— ' That it may please thee to 

defend and provide,' &c. 

47 Interior of St. George's Chapel, 

Windsor. 

48 I. L.— From Flaxman's Illustra- 

tions of the Lord's Prayer— 
' Forgive us our trespasses,' &c. 

— I. L.— ' Let us pray.' 

49 I. L — ' G lory be to the Father, &c.' 

— I. L.— Moses and Aaron praying 

before Pharaoh. 

50 I. L. -' Our common supplications 

unto thee.' 

— I. L. — Blessing. 

— Exterior of Westminster Abbey. 

Prayers and Thanksgivings. 

51 Interior of Lincoln Cathedral. 

— Architectural Border^ composed 
chiefly from parts of the Cathedral. 

— I. L.— Dearth. 

52 I. L.— Sacrifice of Noah. 

— I. L.— Prodigal Son herding swine. 

53 1. L.— Elisha fed. 

— I. L. and Ornament — Destruction 

of the Assyrian camp, 2 Kings 
xix. 35. 

54 I. L.— Destroying Angel. 

— I. L. — Laying on of hands. 

55 I. L. — 'Give thy grace.' 

— I. L — ' Receive our humble peti- 

tions.' 

56 I. L.— Estates of the Realm. 

— I. L. and Ornament—' W e humbly 

beseech thee for all sorts and 
conditions of men.' 

57 Exterior of Lincoln Cathedral. 

58 I. L. and Ornament— Thanks for 

abundance. 

59 I. L.— Harvest. 

— I. L.— Shepherd Boy.— From SiR 

J. Reynolds. 

— I. L.— Spoiling the tents of the 
Syrians, 2 Kings vii. 16, &c. 



Evening Prayer. 
23 Interior of York Cathedral. 

— Architec. Border, composed chiefly 

from parts of the Cathedral. 

— I. L.^Jonah at Nineveh. 

25 I. L.— Exhortation. 

— I. L. and Or nam. — Confession. 

26 I. L.— Absolution. 

27 I. L.— From Flaxman's Illustra- 

tions of the Lord's Prayer— 
' Thy Kingdom come,' &c. 

— Exterior of York Cathedral. 

28 Salutation of the Virgin.— An- 

drea DEL SaRTO. 

— I. L. and Ornament. — The An- 

nunciation. 

29 I. L.— ' Praise the Lord,' &c. 

30 I. L.— Simeon in the Temple. 

31 I. L.— 'Thy saving health,' &c. 

32 Faith.— Raffaelle. 

— I. L. and Ornament - Chi'ist heal- 

ing the Cripple. 

33 I. L. — From Flaxman's Illustra- 

tions of the Lord's Prayer - 
'Give us this day our daily bread.' 

34 I. L. — ' That our hearts,' &c. 

35 Supplication — Infant Samuel. 

From Sir J. Reynolds. 

— I. L.— Prayer. 

— I. L.— Prayer for the Queen. 

36 I. L.— Prayer for the Royal Fa- 

mily. 

— I. L.— Prayer for the Clergy and 

People. 

37 I. L.— ' When two or three are 

iii 



60 I, L.— The Spanish Armada. 

— I. L.— Giving thanks for 

' We bless thy holy Name.' 

61 I. L.— Thanksgiving of Jonah. 

— I. L. — ' We ofler unto thy Divine 

Majesty,' &c. 

62 Interior of Salisbury Cathedral. 

The Collects. 

63 Title.— At the top, Peterborough 

Cathedral and Ripon Minster; 
in the centre. Interior of Wor- 
cester Cathedral, and Malmes- 
bury Abbey Church; at the 
bottom, Exeter and Bristol Ca- 
thedrals. 

65 Christ's Entry into Jerusalem.— 

Overbeck. 

— I. L.— Disciples, Ass, and Colt. 

66 I. L. — ' It is high time to awake 

out of sleep.' 

67 I. L. — Christ driving ^ out the 

Money-changers. 

68 Parable of the Fig-tree. 

— I. L.— 'And then shall they see the 

Son of Man,' &c. 

69 I. L. — ' Wherefore receive ye one 

another,' &c. 

70 I. L. — 'Men's hearts failing them 

for fear.' 

71 St. John in the Wilderness.— Sir 

J. Reynolds. 

— I. L. — ' That at thy second coming.' 

72 L L. — ' It is required in stewards 

that a man be found faithful.' 

— 1. L.— ' Now when J ohn had heard 



Page 

74 St. John preaching.— Stothard. 

— I. L.— 'I am the voice of one cry- 

ing in the wilderness.' 

75 I. L.—' By prayer and supplication 

with thanksgiving.' 

— I. L.— ' Whenthe Jews sent Priests 

and Levites.' 

77 Nativity.— Carlo Maratti. 

— I. L.— The Holy Family.— From 

M. Angelo. 

78 1. L.— 'And let all the angels of 

God worship him.' 

79 I. L.—' There was a man sent from 

God whose name was John.' 

80 Martyr, of St. Stephen.— Le Brun . 

— I. L.— Murder of Abel. 

81 I. L. — 'I see the heavens opened,' 

&c. 

— I. L.— Death of Zacharias. 

83 St. John the Evangel.— A. Durer. 

— 1. L.—' Which is he that betraj-eth 

thee ?' 

84 I. L.— ' If we confess our sins.' 

85 I. L.— ' What shall this man do ?' 

86 Flight into Egypt — Repose. — 

GUIDO. 

— I. L.— Rachel weeping for her 

children. 

87 I.L.— Vision of Mount Sion. 

88 I. L.- Flight into Egypt. 

89 Angel appearing to Joseph. 

— 1. L.— Virgin and Child. 

90 I. L. - ' As long as he is a child.' 

91 I. L.- Joseph ' was minded to put 

her away privily.' 

92 Adoration of the Shepherds.— 

POUSSIN. 

— I. L.— Presentation in the Temple. 

93 I. L.— Angel appearing to Abra- 

ham. 

94 I. L.— ' The shepherds said one to 

another.' 

95 Wise Men's Offering.- Rubens. 

— I. L.— Paul preaching to the 

Ephesians. 

96 I. L.—' Paul, the prisoner of Jesus 

Christ for you Gentiles.' 

97 I. L. — Herod examining the 

Wise Men. 

98 Christ with the Doctors in the 

Temple. - Overbeck. 

— I. L.— Infant Prayer. 

99 I. L.— Paul preaching to the Ro- 
mans. 

— I. L.— ' And he went down with 
them.' 

101 Marriage at Cana. 

— I. L. -Tlie Widow's Mite—' He 
that giveth, let him do it with 
simplicity.' 

102 I. L.— 'Weep with them that 
weep.' 

103 I. L.—' Jesus saith unto them, Fill 
the waterpots with water.' 

104 Christ curing the Leper. 

— I. L.— Christ and the Centurion. 

105 I. L. — 'If he thirst give him drink.' 

— I. L. — 'And Jesus put forth his 
hand.' 

107 Christ in the Storm. 

— I. L.-' There met him two pos- 
sessed with devils.' 

108 I. L.— 'For this cause pay you 
tribute also.' 

— I. L.— ' And they that kept 
them fled.' 

110 Parable of Wheat and Tares. 

— 1. L.— ' An enemy hath done this.' 
] 11 'And forgiving one another.' 
] 12 1. L.— 'But gather the wheat into 

my barn.' 

113 'They shall see the Son of 
Man coming in the clouds of 
heaven.' 

— I. L.— ' All the tribes of the earth 
mourn.' 

114 I. L.— Holy Family. 

— I. L.— ' He shall send his angels 



with a great sound of a trum pet. 
in the prison the works of Christ.' 116 Labourers at the Eleventh Hour. 

a 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



I'age 

116 I. L. — '\Vhy stand ye liere all 

the day idle ?' 

117 I. L. — ' Tliey do it to obtain a cor- 

ruptible crown.' 

— I. L.— ' Go ye also into the vine- 

yard.' 

119 Parable of the Sower. - Domeni- 

OIIINO. 

— I. L. — Paul shakin,*; otrtlie Viper. 

120 I. L.-ShipwrLvk of St. Paul. 

121 I. L. — 'Jlo spake bv a parable.' 

123 Christ and tlie Bliiid.— 8. Kicci. 

— I. L.- Charity. — From Kaffa- 

ELLE. 

124 I. L.— ' When I was a child,' &c. 

125 T. L.— ' \Miat wnlt thou,' &c. 
127 Penitence. 

— I. L.— ' Turn ye even to me.' 
123 T. L. — 'And rend your heart.' 

] 29 I. L. — ' AVhere thieves break 
through and steal.' 

130 Chi-ist in the AVilderness. 

— I. L.— 'If thou be the Son of God, 

cast thyself down.' 

131 I. L.— Paul stoned at Lj^stra ; 

' chastened and not killed.' 

— I. L.— ' Command that these stones 

be made bread.' 

133 "Woman of Canaan.— Le Sueur. 

— I. L.— David linchug Saul sleeping. 

134 I. L.— Isaac blessing Jacob. 

135 I. L. — Woman of Canaan. 

136 ' The Dumb spake.' 

— I. L.— 'Seeking rest and finding 

none.' 

137 I. L.-' Walk as children of light.' 

— I. L.— ' When a stronger than he 

shall come upon hun and over- 
come him.' 

140 Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. 

— Raffaelle. 

— I. L. — Gathering up the Frag- 

ments. 

141 1. L.-Agar and her children in 

bondage. 

142 I. L.— Jesus distributing bread to 

his Disciples. 

144 Christ and the Jews. 

— I. L. — The Jews taldng up stones 

to cast at Jesus. 

145 I. L.— The soldier piercing the side 

of Jesus. 

146 I.L.— Jesus reasoning with the 

Jews. 

148 Christ rejected.— Vandyke. 

— I. L.— Prayer. 

149 I. L.— Jesus washing the feet of 

his Disciples. 

150 I. L. — Jesus mocked. 

154 Christ in the Garden.— Correg- 

GIO. 

— I. L.— 'AVho is this that cometh 

from Edom.' 
157 I. L.— Woman with box of oint- 
ment. 

162 Christ crowned with Thorns.— 
Titian. 

— I.L.— ' 'I"he chief priests moved the 

people tliat he should rather re- 
lease Barabbas unto them.' 
164 I. L.—' Jesus led out to be cruci- 
fied.' 

167 Christ scourged.— Rubens. 

— I. L.— Moses spiinkling the people. 
169 I. L. — ' And tliere appe^ired an 

an^el unto him,' &c. 
1 74 Bearing the Cross.---RAFFAELEE. 

— I. L.— The Lord's Supper. | 
176 I. L.— The women of Jerusalem I 

lamenting Jesus. 
180 The Crucilixion.— VANDiTiE. 

— I. L.— 'This thy family.' I 
Isl I. L. — Prayer. 

— I. L.— Jesus weeping over Jerusa- 

lem. 

Is2 I. L.— ' The law having a shadow 
of good things to come.' 

184 I. L.— The ■■■oldiers casting lots for 
Christ's garments. 

188 Entombment of Clirist.— Raffa- 

XLLE 

— I. L.— Descent from the Cross — 

Rubens 

189 I. Jj.—The disobedient in the davs 

ofXoah. 

IV 



Page 

189 I. L.— The two Marys at the Se- 
pulchre. 

191 I. L.— Sprinkling the door-post 

with the blood of the Lamb. 

— I. L. — I'he Entombment. 

— I. L. — Adam eating the forbidden 

fruit. 

192 Mary Magdalen and the Disciples 

at the Sepulchre.— Raff AELLE. 

— T. L.— Christ with the keys of 

Hell and Death.— Blake. 

193 I. L. — Fleeing from Covetousness. 

— I. Ia— The two Disciples running 

to the Sepulchre. 

195 Christ and the Disciples at Em- 

maus. 

— I. L.— ' \\'e humbly beseech Thee.' 

196 I. L.— Peter teaching Cornelius. 

197 1. L — The Disciples pressing J esus 

to lodge with them one night. 

199 Resurrection. — Rubens. 

— I. L.— The destruction of Death. 

200 1. L.— Paul preaching in the Sy- 

nagogue. 

201 I. L. — Jesus in the midst of his 

Disciples after the Resurrection. 

203 Jesus appearing to his Disciples 

after the Resurrection. 

— I. L.— Peter and Piiilip the Ethi- 

opian Eunuch. 

204 I. L. — 'Victory that overcometh 

the world, even our Faith.' 

205 I. L.— Jesus giving the Disciples 

power to remit sins. 

206 The Good Shepherd.— Murillo. 

— I. L.— The hireling fleeing in time 

of danger. 

207 I. L.— Martyrdom — 'Suffering 

wrongfully.' 

— I. L.— The wolf among the sheep. 

209 Mother and Child.— Raffaeeee. 

— I. L.— The woman crowned with 

twelve stars. 

210 I . L.— Pilgrim reading the Epistle. 

— I . L. — ' Ye shall weep and lament.' 

212 Disciples weeping — ' Because I 

have said tliese things unto you 
sorrow hath tilled your heart.' 

— I. L. — ' Who alone canst order the 

unruly wills and afiections.' 

213 I. L. — 'Receive with meekness the 

engrafted word.' 

— I. L. — Elymas the Sorcerer smit- 

ten with blindness. 

215 Peter visiting Dorcas.— Le Sueur. 

— I. L.— Elisha restoring the Wi- 

dow's Son to life. 

216 I. L.— Comforting the widowed. 

— Paul and Silas in prison. 

218 The Ascension.— Rubens. 

— I. L. — ' May we also in heart and 

mind thither ascend.' 

219 I. L. — ' Why stand ye gazing up 

into heaven ?' 

220 I. L.— Jesus appearing to the Dis- 

ciples as they sat at meat. 

221 Persecution of Disciples. — Le 

Sueur. 

— I. L.— The Servant of the Lord of 

the Vineyard slain by the U us- 
bandmen. 

222 I. L.— ' Watch unto prayer.' 

— I. L.— Paul escaping from Damas- 

cus. 

224 Descent of the Holy Ghost.— Raf- 

faelle. 

— I. L.— ' Judas saith unto him.' 

225 I. L. — ' They were all amazed, and 

marvelled.' 

226 I. L.— 'Peter, lovest thou me?' 

228 Christ walking on the Sea— P. 

GoTTING. 

— I. L.— ' For every one that dotli 

evil hateth the light.' 

229 I. L.— Cornelius baptized. 

230 T. L.— Massacre of the Innocents. 

231 Peter and John at Emmaus.— Le 

Brun. 

— I. L. — Ahaz and the Prophet. 

232 I. L. — The Apostles going to Sa- 

maria. 

— I. L. — The thief breaking into the 



I'age 

234 I. L.— ' And immediately I was in 
the Spirit.' 

235 I. L.— The Elders in Heaven. 

236 I. L.— Moses hfting up the brazen 
Serpent. 

238 Lazarus at the Rich Man's Gate. 
— Adapted from Uwins. 

— I. L.— ' Carried by the angels into 
Abraham's bosom.' 

239 I. L.— Jacob and Esau. 

240 I. L.— Lazarus at the gate of Dives. 

242 A certain man made a supper — 
J ou venet. 

— 1. L.— ' I have purchased five yoke 
of oxen.' 

243 I. L.— Joseph's brethren putting 
him into the well. 

244 I. L. -'Go out into the highways 
and hedges,' &c. 

245 The Prodigal Son — L. Spada. 

— I. L. — 'I'he Lost Sheep found. 

246 I. L. — Haman and Mordecai. 

— I. L. — Seeking for the lost piece of 
silver. 

248 The Blind leading the Blhid.— 
Tintoretto. 

— I. L.— ' Forgive, and ye shall be 
forgiven.' 

249 I. L— ' The whole creation groan- 
eth and travaileth,' &c. 

250 I. L.— Jonah under the gourd. 
' Be ye therefore merciful.' 

251 Miraculous Draught of Fishes. — 
Rubens. 

— I. L.— Jesus teaching the people 
from Simon's boat. 

252 I. L.— 'For the eyes of the Lord 
are open to the righteous,' &c. 

— I. L. — The fishermen washing 
their nets. 

254 ' First be reconciled to thy brother.' 

— I.L.—' And thou be cast into 
prison.' 

255 I. L.— 'Planted in the likeness of 
his death.' 

— I. L. — ' \^^hoever shall say, Thou 
fool, shall be in danger "of hell- 
fire.' 

257 'Lord of all power and might.'^ — 

Fl^AXMAN. 

— I. L.— Jesus blessing the bread. 

258 I. L. — Destruction of the cities of 
the plain — ' For the end of these 
things is death.' 

— 1. L.— A group partaking of the 
loaves and fishes. 

260 The untruitful tree hewn down.— 
Thurston. 

— I.L.—' For if ye live after the 
flesh, ye shall die.' 

261 I. L.— Philip caught up by the 
S]^irit after baptizing the Eunuch. 

— 1. L.— 'Do men gather grapes of 
thorns ?' 

263 Destruct. of Pharaoh and his Host. 
I. L.— Moses striking the Roek. 

264 I. L.— The Israelites passing 
through the Red Sea. 

265 I. L.— The Unjust Steward. 

266 Christ overturning the tables of 
the Money-changers. 

I. L.— The gifts of healing. 

267 I. L. -False Prophets — the Py- 
thoness. 

268 I. L.— Casting a trench around 
Jerusalem. 

269 Publican and Pharisee. 

270 I. L.— Paul led to Damascus after 
he had been struck blind. 

271 I. L. - - Tlie Pharisee. 

272 Christ healing the Deaf. 

— I.L.-' The deaf shall hear the 
words of the book.' -Isaiah. 

273 I. L. — Moses de.-cending the Mount 
with the Tables of the Law. 

— I. L.— Men publishing the iName 
of J esus. 

275 Good Samaritan.— Rembrandt. 

— I. L.— Tlie Thieves attacking the 
Traveller. 

276 I. L.— Moses ascending to aiount 
Sinai. 



234 



fold. 

Jesus and Kicodenms. 
retto. 



277 1. L.— The Good Samaritan. 
TiNTO- 279 The Leper kneeling Ictoi-e Christ. 
! — I. L.— Saul and tiic witch of Endor. 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



iS9 



291 



230 I. L. -Idolater worshipping the 
Sun. ^ , j 

281 Initial Letter— The Lepers cured. 

282 Paul preaching to the Galatians. | 
_ J L_' Behold the fowls of the air. . 

233 I. L.-^Paul writing the Epistle to i 
the Galatians. 

— I. L.— ' Consider the lilies of the 

field.' 

285 Eaising the Widow's Son.— Bird. I 
_ I. L.— 'For this cause I bow my j 

knees.' . ! 

286 1. L.— David's men fainting m the 

pursuit. 

287 T. L.— The House of Mourning. 

283 Christ editing bread in the house of 

the Pharisee.— PaulYeronese. 
_ I. L.— ' When thou art bidden to 
a feast take the lowest seat,' &c. 
I; L.— 'Keep the unity of thespuit 

in the bond of peace.' 
j_ An ox fallen into a pit.' 
Clirist and Pharisees. 

— I. L.— David composing Ps. 110. 
292 I. L.— Waiting for the coming of 

our Lord. 

— I. L.— Daniel in the lions' den— 

' Love the Lord.' 

294 Christ curing tlie sick of the palsy. 

— F. Yerdier. 
_ I. L.— The sick man taking up his 
bed and walking. 

295 I. L.— Gehazi,the servant of Elisha, 

smitten vvdth leprosy. 

296 T.L.— Jesus passing over inthe ship. 

297 Temperance.— Sir J. Reynolds. 

— I. L. The jMarriage-feast. 

298 I. L.— Noah in his Yineyard— ' Be 

not drunk with Avine.' 

— I. L.— The Siege of Jerusalem. 

300 Christ and the Nobleman of Ca- 

pernaum. 
_ I. L.— The Recovery of the Noble- 
man's Son. 

301 I. L.— ' Put on the whole armour 

of God.' 

302 I. L.— ' His servants met him and 

told him, saying. Thy son liveth.' 

303 A certain king and his servants. 

— I. L. The Wicked Servant. 

304 I. L.— The Servant bringing his 

talent with interest. 

— I. L.— Jesus addressing Peter. 
3C6 The Tribute Money. Rembramdt. 

— I. L.— Peter finding the Tribute 

money in the fish's mouth. 
307 I. L.— ' For our conversation is in 
Heaven.' 

— The Pharisees 'sent unto him their 

disciples.' 

309 Raising the daughter of Jairus.— 

OVERBECK. 

— I. L.— ' There came a certain ruler 

and worshipped him.' 

310 I. L.—' Partakers of the inherit- 

ance of the saints in light.' 

311 I. L.— The diseased Woman touch- 

ing the hem of Christ's garment. 

312 Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. 

- I. L.— ' A king shall reign, and 

prosper,' &c. 

313 I. L. -'Israel shall dwell safely.' 

- I. L.— 'There is a lad here,' &c. 

315 Calling of St. Andrew and Simon 

Peter.— Bird. 

— I. L.—' Preach the Gospel of peace.' 

316 1. L.— ' How shall tliey preach ex- 

cept they be sent?' 

317 James, John, and Zebedee mend- 

ing their nets. 

318 Incredulity of St. Thomas.— Ru- 

bens. 

— I. L.— ' Blessed are they that have 

not seen, and yet have believed.' 

319 I. L — ' Ye are no more strangers 

and foreigners.' 

— I. L.— Disciples informing Thomas 

of the Resurrection. 

321 St. Paul.— Albert Durer. 

— I. L.— Conversion of St. Paul. 

322 I. L.— Saul journeying to Damas- 

cus. 

324 I. L.— Lot's wife. 

325 The Presentation in the Temple.— 

F. Bartolomeo di s. Marco. 



Page 

325 I. L.— Oftering of Purification. 

326 I. L.— ' Who may abide the day 
of his coming?' 

— I. L.— Anna entering the Temple. 

328 In those days Peter stood up in 
the midst of the disciples. 

_ I. L.— ' Let his habitation be deso- 
late.' 

329 I. L.— Death of Judas. 

330 I. L.— ' At that time Jesus answer- 
ed and said.' 

331 The Annunciation.— OVERBECK. 
_ I. L.—' The Lord spake again unto 

Ahaz.' 

332 I. L.— Yirgin and Child. 

— 1. L,— Angel Gabriel appearing to 
Mary. 

334 St. Mark.- Rubens. 

— I. L.— ' When he ascended up on 
high.' 

335 I. L.— Roman triumph -'He led 
captivity captive.' 

336 I. L.— Bm-nmg the unfruitful 
branches. 

337 Fortitude. -Reynolds. 
I.L. - 'James, a servant of God,'&c. 

338 I. L.— The twelve tribes receiving 
Jacob's blessing. 

339 I. L.— ' In my Father's house are 
many mansions.' 

340 Paul and Barnabas at Lystra.— 
Raffaelle. 

— I. L.— ' Great dearth tliroughout 
the world.' 

341 I.L.— 'In those days came pro- 
phets from Jerusalem,' &c. 

342 I. L.— ' And the hand of the Lord 
was with them;' Acts xi. 21.— 
Peter escaping from prison. 

343 John baptizing Christ.— Rubens. 

— I.L. 'He shall gather the lambs 
with his arm,' &c. 

344 I. L.— ' He shall feed his flock like 
a shepherd.' 

345 1. L.—Zacharias writing the name 
of John. 

347 The Angel releasing Peter.— Do- 

MENICHINO. 

_ I. L.— ' Upon this rock I will build 
my Church.' 

348 I. L.— Peter knocldng at the door 
after his escape from prison. 

349 I. L. -Peter condemning Ananias. 

350 Death of St. James. 

— I. L.— Arresting of St. Peter. 

351 I. L.— 'And he killed James the 
brother of John with the sword.' 

_ I. L.— 'Then came to him the 
mother of Zebedee's children 
with her sons.' 

353 Solomon's Porch. -N. PoussiN. 

— I. L. ' Laid them on beds and 
couches.' 

354 I. L.— 'They brought forth the 
sick into the streets.' 

— I. L.— ' And sit on thrones.' 

356 St. Matthew. -Rubens, 

— I. L —'As we have received mercy 
we faint not.' Disciplas pluck- 
ing the ears of corn 

357 I. L.— 'For we preach not our- 
selves, but Christ J esus the Lord.' 

358 I. L.— The Angel troubling the 
waters of Bethesda. 

359 St. Michael and Satan.— Raffa- 
elle. 

_ I. L.— ' And Jesus called a little 
child unto him.' 

360 I. L. 'Therefore rejoice ye hea- 
vens, and ye that dwell in them.' 

361 I. L.— ' Whoso shall receive one 
such little child.' 

362 St. Luke.— Cornelius. 

— I. L.— 'The Lord appointed other 
seventv also.' 

363 I. L.— 'Do the work of an Evan- 
gelist.' 

364 I. L-— ' Peace be to this house.' 

365 Christ exhorting his disciples. 

— I. L.— ' Afterward destroyed them 
that believed not.' 

366 I. L. 'The angels which kept not 
their first estate.' 

367 I. L.— 'Love one another;' Jona- 
than and David. 



Page 

368 Sermon on the Mount. 
— I.L. - 'And I saw another angel 

ascending from the East.' 

369 I. L.— ' And he cried with a loud 
voice to the four Angels,' &c. 

370 I. L.— 'And when he was set, his 
disciples came unto him.' 

371 Interior of Exeter Cathedral. 



The Holy Communion. 
373 Title to the Administration of the 
Lord's Supper.— At the top, Sem- 
pringham Priory, Liucolnsliire, 
and Bosham Church, Sussex ; 
in the centre, Interior of South- 
well Minster, Nottinghamshire, 
and Interior of Hereford Cathe- 
dral ; at the bottom, Bromyard 
Church. Herefordshire, and 
Austin Friars, London. 

375 Last Supper.— Raffaelle. 

376 I. L.— From Flaxman's Illustra- 
trations of the Lord's Prayer 
- ' But deliver us from evil.' 

— I.L.-' Cleanse the thoughts of our 
hearts.' 

— I. L. Stoning the Sabbath- 
breaker. 

378 I. L— 'Thy chosen .servant Yic- 
toria.' 

— I. L.— ' The hearts of kings are in 
thy rule and governance.' 

379 The Creed.— Westall. 

— I. L.-' Maker of heaven and 
earth.' 

380 Interior of Wells Cathedral. 
386 Administration of the Lord's Sup- 
per. - Westall. 

391 I. L.-From Flaxman's Illustra- 
tions of the Lord's Prayer—' For 
thine is the kingdom,' &c. 

400 Yiew of Christ Church Cathedral, 
Oxford. 

Offices of the Church. 

401 Title to Offices of the Church.— 
At tlie top, Tewkesbury Church, 
Gloucestershire, and the Abbey 
(or Holy Cross) Church, Shrews- 
bury ; in tlie centre, the Interior, 
with the Font, of Irthhng- 
borough Church, Northampton- 
shire, and the Interior, with the 
Font, of Walsingham Church, 
Norfolk; at the bottom, Leo- 
minster Church, Herefordshire, 
and Cirencester Church, Glouces- 
tershire. 

403 Publick Baptism.— Westall. 
410 Ruins of lona. 

420 Catechism.— Adapted from West- 
all. 

425 Ruins of Tintern Abbey. 

426 Confirmation.- W est all. 

429 Ruins of Netley Abbey. 

430 Matrimony.— Westall. 

437 Ruins of Fountains Abbey. 

438 Yisitation of the Sick. - Westall. 

446 Ruins of Byland Abbey. 

447 Burial of the Dead.— Adapted 
from Westall. 

453 Ruins of ]iIelrose Abbey. 
456 Ruins of Rivaulx Abbey. 

462 Exterior of Ely Cathedral. 

The Psalms. 

463 Title to the Psalms of David.— At 
the top, the Cathedrals of Here- 
ford and Llandaff; in the centre, 
the Cathedrals of Norwich and 
Lichfield; at the bottom, the 
Abbey of St. Alban's and the 
Cathedral of Carlisle. 

The whole series, consisting of a 
Subject and Initial Letter at the begin- 
ning of the Morning Psalms, and of 
Initial Letters to the other Psalms, 
are from original designs by W. Har- 
vey. The Subject prefixed to the first 
Morning Psalm has reference to some 
passage in the Psalms of the day, as 
will be indicated in the following list: 

466 First Day-Ps. 1. ver. 6. Day of 
Judgment. 



V 



1. David 
Sliiniei curs- 
. Aliitopliel. 



Dives and 



l*age 

466 I. L.— Ps. i. V. 3. 

467 I. L.— Ps. ii. V. 2. 
463 I. L. — Ps. iii. V 

mourning. 

— I. L. — Ps. iv. V. 2. 

lug D;uid. 

469 I. L.— Ps. v., V. 6, 11 

470 I. L.— Ps. vi. V. 6. 

471 I. L.-Ps. vii. V. 2. 

472 I. L.— Ps. \'iii. V. 6. 

473 Second Day— Ps. x. v. 9. 

— I. L.-Ps. ix. V. 5. David \vith 

theliead ofGoliatli. 

474 I. L.-Ps. X. V. S. 

476 1. L.-Ps. xi. V. 1. 

— I. L.— Ps. xii. V. 5 

Lazarus. 

477 I. L.— Ps. xiii. Daniel, a Psalm 

of the Captivity. 

478 1. L.— Ps. xiv. Belshazzar, Ditto. 

479 Thii-d Day— Ps. xviii. v. 14. The 

last war with the PhiUstines. 

— I. L — Ps. XV. V. 1. 

480 L L.-Ps. xvi. V. 11. The Resur- 

rection. 

481 I. L.— Ps. x-^ii. V. 8. 

482 I. L.— Ps. xviii. V. 40. War \vith 

the Philistines. 

485 Fourth Day— Ps. xxii. v. 18. 

— I. L.-Ps. xix. V. 5. Sunrise. 

486 I. L.-Ps. XX. V. 8. Submission of 

the Syrians. 

487 I. L.— jPs. xxi. V. 1. Roman Tri- 

umph. 

488 I. L. — Ps. xxii. V. 7. Christ 

mocked. 

490 L L.— Ps. xxiii. v. 1. 

491 Fifth Day-Ps. xxix. v. 5. Job 

and liis Friends. 

— L L — Ps. xxiv. V. 4. 

492 I.-L.— Ps. XXV. V. 8. 

493 I. L.— Ps xxvi. V. 6. 

494 I. L.-Ps. xxvii. v. 3. 

496 I. L.~Ps. xxviii. V. 2. 

497 I. L.— Ps. xxix. V. 8. 

498 SixthDay— Ps. XXX.V.12. David 

dedicating the Altar. 

— I. L.-Ps. XXX. V. 7. 

499 I. L.— Ps. xxxi. V. 3. 

sued by Saul. 

501 L L.— Ps. xxxii. V. 1. 

502 I. L.— Ps. xxxiii. V. 2 

503 I. L.-Ps. xxxiv. V. 

and Ishmael. 
505 Seventh Day— Ps. xxxv. v, 

— L L.-Ps. xxxv. V. 14. 

507 I. L.— Ps. xxxvi. V. 4. 

Robber. 

508 I. L.— Ps. xxxvii. V. 36. 

511 Eighth Day- Ps. xlii. v. 1. 

— L L — Ps. xxxviii. v. 6. 

512 I L.-Ps. xxxix. V. 5. Absalom's 

Tomb. 

513 L L.— Ps.xl. V. 16. 

515 L L.— Ps. xli. V. 1. 

516 I. L.— Ps. xlii. V. 

Hermon. 

517 L L — Ps. xim. v.'5. 

518 Mnth Day— Ps. xlv 

riage of Solomon. 

— I. L.-Ps. xliv. V. 17. 

520 1. L.-Ps. xlv. V. 4, 5, 6. 

521 L L.— Ps.xl vi.v.1. Jehoshaphat's 

Triumph over Moab. 

522 I. L.-Ps. xMi. V. 4. 

523 I. L.— Ps. xlviii. V. 2 Mount Zion. 
521 I. L.-Ps. xlix. V. 10. 
525 Tenth Day— Ps. li. v. 1. Nathan 

reproving David. 

— I. L.— Ps. 1. V. 3. 

527 I. L.-Ps. li V. 7. 

528 I. L.-Ps. lii. V. 9. 

529 I. L.-Ps. liii. V. 6 

530 LL.— Ps. liv.v. 1. 

— I. L.-Ps. Iv. V. 6. 

532 Eleventh Dav — Ps. Ivii. v. 7 

David cutting the Skirt of Saul's 
Garment. 

— I. L.-Ps. Ivi. V. 6. 

533 1. L.— Ps. Ivii. V. 5. David in En- 

gedi. 

534 J. L.— Ps. Ivih. V. 5. Serpent 



LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. 



David pur- 



Hagar 



Arab 



Page 

536 I. L.— Ps. Ix. V. 1. 

537 I. L. -Ps. Ixi. V. 3. 

538 Twelfth Day-Ps. Ixv. v. 14. 

— L L.— Ps. Ixii. V. 1. 

539 I. L. - Ps. Ixiii. V. 2. 

540 L L.-Ps. Ixi V. V. 4. 

541 L L.-Ps. Ixv. V. 6, 7. 

542 I. L.— Ps. Ixvi. V. 5. 

543 I. L.— Ps. Ixvii. V. 6. 

544 Thirteenth Day-Ps. Ixviii. v. 1. 

David dancing before the Ark. 

— I. L. — Ps. Ixviii. V. 5. 
547 I. L.— Ps. Ixix. V. 1 and 2. 

549 I. L. -Ps. Ixx. V. 3, Death of Ab- 

solom. 

550 Fourteenth Day— Ps. Ixxii. v. 1. 
Solomon appointed King with 



David in 



Ditto. 

V. 10. Mar- 



Hyssop 
Olive Tree. 

David iu Ziph 



Page 

616 LL.-Ps. cxvi. v. 12. 

617 L L.- Ps. cxvii. v. 1. 

618 I. L.— Ps. cxviii. V. 22. Christ re- 
jected. 

619 I. L.-Ps. cxix. Aleph. 

620 1. L.— do. Beth. 

— I. L.— do. He, V. 35. Moses, with 
the Tables of the Law. 

621 I. L.— do. Gimel. 

— I. L. - do. Daleth. 

622 Twenty-fifth Day-Ps. cxix. v. 55. 

623 I. L.— do. Vau. 

— I. L.— do. Zain. 

624 1. L.— do. Cheth. 

— I. L.— do. Teth. 

625 I. L. - do. Jod. 

626 I. L. - do. Caph. 
- I. L.— do. Lamed. 

627 I. L. - do. Mem,, v. 97. 

628 Twenty-sixth Day — do. v. 147. 
' Early in the morning do I cry 
unto thee.' 

— I. L. - do. Nun. V. ] . 

629 I. L. -do. Samecfi. 

— I. L.— do. Ain. 

630 I. L.-do. Phe. 

— I. L.— do. Tzaddi. 

631 I. L.— do. Koph. 

632 I. L.— do. Resch. 

— I. L.— do. Shin. 

633 I. L.-do. Tau. 
Ps. Ixxix. V. 1. Ditto. 634 Twenty-seventh Day— Ps. cxxviii 
Ps. Ixxx. V. 13. V. 3 and 4. 
Ps. Ixxxi. V. 3. — LL.— Ps. cxx. v. 4. Tents of 
Ps. Ixxxii. V. 3. Kedar. 
Ps. Ixxxiii. V. 9. Jaelslay- 635 1. L.— Ps. cxxi. v. 3. 
Sisera. _ l. L.-Ps. cxxii. v. 4. 
Ps. Ixxxiv. V. 3. 636 I. L.-Ps. cxxiii. v. 2. 
Ps. Ixxxv. V. 10. - I. L.-Ps. cxxiv. v. 6. 

637 I. L.-Ps. cxxv. V. 2. 

— I. L.— Ps. cxxvi, V. 7. 

638 I. L.— Ps. cxxvii. V. 5. 

— I. L.— Ps. cxxviii. v. 3. 

639 I. L.— Ps. cxxix. v. 6. 

— I. L.— Ps. cxxx. V. 1. 

640 I. L.-Ps. cxxxi. V. 3. 

641 Twenty-eighth Day— Ps. cxxxviii. 
V. 1. 'By the waters of Babylon 
we sat down and wept.' 

— L L.-Ps. cxxxu. V. 5. Removal 
of the Ark. 

642 I. L.— Ps. cxxxiii. v. 2. Aaron 
anointed. 

643 I. L.-Ps. cxxxiv. V. 3. 
L L.— Ps. cxxxv. V. 10. 

645 1. L.— Ps. cxxxvi. v. 9. 

646 I. L.-Ps. cxxxvii. v. 2. 

647 I. L.— Ps. cxxxviii. v. 2. 

648 Twenty-ninth Day-Ps. cxlii. v. 7. 
David in the (]ave of Engedi. 

L L.— Ps. cxxxix. V. 13. 'Marvel- 
lous are thv works.' 

650 1. L.— Ps. cxi. V. 3. 

651 I. L.-Ps. cxli. V. 8. 
1 652 I. L.-Ps. cxlii. V. 1. 

The Prodigal [ 653 I. L.-Ps. cxiiii. v. 2. Job. 

654 Thirtieth Day-Ps. cxliv. v. 13. 

— L L.— Ps. cxliv. V. 12, 13, 14. 
635 I. L.-Ps. cxlv. V. 2. 
057 I. L.— Ps. cxlvi. V. 7. 

658 L L.— Ps. cxlvii. V. 9. 

659 L L.-Ps. cxlviii. v. 12. 

660 I. L.— Ps. cxlix. V. 3. 

— 1. L.- Ps. cl. V. 3 and 4. 



535 



Charmer. 
I. L.— Ps. lix. V. 6. 



David. 

— L L.-Ps. Ixxi. V. 20. 

552 L L.— Ps. Ixxii. V. 4, 10, 11. 

553 I. L.-Ps. Ixxiii. V. 16. 
555 I. L.— Ps. Ixxiv. V. 8, 9. 

557 Fifteenth Day-Ps. Ixxviii. v. 15. 

— I. L.— Ps. Ixxv. V. 12. Destruc- 
tion of Sennacherib. 

558 I. L.-Ps. Ixxvi. V. 6. 
559—1. L.-Ps. Ixxvii. v. 11 

with the Tables of the Law 
560 I. L.-Ps. Ixxviii. v. 64, 65. 

565 Sixteenth Day — Ps. Ixxix. v 
Desolation of Jerusalem. 

— I. L.- 

566 L L.- 

568 L L. 

569 I. L.- 

— I. L.- 
ing 

571 LL.- 

572 L L.- 

573 Seventeenth Day— Ps. Ixxxix. v. 
21. Anointing of David. 

— L L.-Ps. Ixxxvi. 

574 I. L.— Ps. Ixxxvii. v. 3. Rahab. 

575 LL.-Ps. Ixxxviii. v. 1. Moses 
praying to the Lord. 

576 I. L.-Ps. Ixxxix. v. 21. 

580 Eighteenth Day — Ps. xciv. v. 6. 
Destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Assyrians. 

— L L.— Ps. xc. V. 6. 

581 I. L.— Ps. xci. V. 9. The Nativity. 

583 L L.-Ps. xcii. V. 9. 

584 I. L.-Ps. xciii. V. 5. 
I. L.-Ps. xciv. V. 6. 

586 Nineteenth Day — Ps. xcv. v. 8. 
Moses striking the Rock. 

I. L. -Ps. xcv. V. 1. 

587 I. L.— Ps. xcvi. V. 12. 

588 I. L.— Ps. xcvii. V. 2. 

589 I. L.-Ps. xcviii. V. 6. 

590 I. L.-Ps. xcix. V. 7. 

— I. L. - Ps. c. V. 2. 

591 I. L.-Ps. ci. V. 1. 

592 Twentieth Day— Ps. civ. v. 18. 

— I. L.-Ps. cii. V. 6. 
594 I. L.-Ps. ciii. V. 13, 

Son. 

596 I. L.-P,s. civ. V. 11. 
598 Twenty-lirst Day - 
Joseph sold. 

— 1. L.-Ps. cv. V. 10. Jacob's Vi- 
sion. 

601 LL.-Ps. cvi.v. 19. 
604 Twenty-second Day — Ps. cvii. v. 
23—27. 

— I. L.— Ps. cvii. V. 20. The Brazen 
Serpent. 

607 I. L. Ps. cviii. v. 9. ' Judah is an 
old lion.' 

608 I. L.-Ps. cix. V. 9. 

610 Twenty-third Day— Ps. cxiii. v. 8. 
Hannah. 

— T. L.— Ps. ex. V. 2. 

611 I. L. - Ps. cxi. V. 6. Spies and 
Grapes. 

612 I. L.-Ps. cxii. V, 1. 

613 1. L.— Ps. cxiii. V. 8. 

614 I. L.-Ps. cxiv. V. 3. Passing the 
J ordan. 

— I. L.-Ps. cxv. V. 12. 
616 Twenty-fourth Day-Ps. cxvi. v. 16. 

The IsraeHtes sacrificing? amid 



Ps. cv. V. 17. 



Forms of Prayer, &c. 

661 Title to ' Forms of Prayer,' &c.— At 
the top, St. Patrick's Cathedral 
and Laindon Church, Essex; 
in the centre. Ship at Sea and 
Westminster Hall; at the bot- 
tom, Stewkley Church, Bucks, 
and Cranham Church, Essex. 

669 Interior of Winchester Catiiedral. 

— Architect. Border, composed chiefly 

from parts of the Cathedral. 

685 Exterior of Winchester Cathedral. 

686 Interior of Durham Cathedral. 

— Architect. Border, composed chiefly 
from parts of the Cathedral. 



tlie ruins of Jerusalem upon their | 702 Exterior of Durham Cathedral, 
return from the Captivity. [711 Interior of Ely Cathedral. 



VI 



INTEODUCTOEY 

HISTORY OF THE LITURGY. 



In no instance have Christians heen more indebted to the use of a scriptural 
and well-arranged Liturgy than the members of the Church of England. 
During the changes produced in men's circumstances and tempers by the 
lapse of time, rehgious opinion is exposed to many trials, and often under- 
goes modifications in the minds of influential members of society which tend 
greatly to injure the purity, or simphcity, of evangehcal faith. When such 
is the case, it is an invaluable privilege for the people to possess a Liturgy 
which, drawn up at a period of great rehgious inteUigence, and by men of 
the profoundest wisdom and piety, may be readily appealed to as a standard 
of opinion. 

While this is manifestly true in regard to seasons of change and difficulty, 
it is scarcely less so in reference to the ordinary wants of a Church and its 



Vll 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUEaY. 



members. A liturgy is more to be considered, first, in respect to its imme- 
diate and direct object ; and next, in regard to its collateral inlliieDces on the 
minds of the worshippers. 

Praver, in its nature and primary design, must be the same, whether 
exercised in communion with others, and in the Chmx-h, or in the most 
private retnement. There will, therefore, in both cases, be the same objects 
to provide for in the composition of prayer. Seek ye first the kingdom of 
Grod and His righteousness" is an universal precept, and on the principle 
which it involves should prayer of every kind be commenced. The pardon of 
sms — the increase of faith and other spiritual graces — the constant protection 
and blessmg of God in the great work of salvation— these are the grand 
objects of suppHcation ; and it matters not whedier we be praying at home, 
or m the Church, they must ever be the first things sought hx a devout and 
believing mmd. When the thoughts themselves are not habituaUy inchned 
to the exercises of rehgion, or are not fixed on the attainment of those gi\ace3 
which lead to salvation,, it is no small advantage to men to be taught by the 
language of those around them what are the highest benefits to be sought 
by an appeal to Heaven. In the composition of a htm-gy. therefore, these 
are the two characteristics to he chiefly looked for — that it consists of 
petitions for the pardon of sins— for the apphcation of Christ's merits— for 
the gift of grace, and the intervention of Grod's providence in the tui'therance 
of general good; and that it be conceived in language both generally 
inteUigible and tending to awaken the aftection of those by whom it is 
employed. The fii\st gi^and purpose of prayer will then be answered. 
Blessmgs most necessary to human happiness vdll be sought m a manner 
acceptable to G-od ; and the hearts of the people, accustomed to the use of 
spiritual exp]-ession, will feel their worldly and selfish passions powerfully, 
and, with Grod's blessmg, effectually, checked. 

The second object to be contemplated in a liturgy is indnect and incidental, 
but scarcely less important. Our Lord conferred an inesthnable blessmg 
on His people by teachmg them a prayer which embodies the essentials of 
devotion in language the most simple and hitelligible. He therel.y instructed 
them in the duty of regulating thek petitions according to the will of Ciod 
and ^the principles of a true faith. Taught fiom infkncy to address the 
Almighty Creator by the endearmg name of Father, thousands of liearts 
have imbibed without an effort the primary doctrine of religion. In the 
same manner, not left to theu^ own crude notions of the langnage proper to 
prayer, they have learned fi^om this Divine model that the Almighty will 
listen to the simplest expression of love ; and that the petitions whidi Wply 
a trust in His wisdom and mercy, by the unlabom-ed, unparticularizino- 
character of their language, are those which may expect the reachest answei\ 
A liturgy framed according to the spirit and style of the Gosi^el wiU coiTe- 
spond in influence to this inspired type of prayer for the universal Chm^ch. 
Impressed upon the memories of people by constant use, it will enrich them 
with many seeds of heavenly knowledge. " Its phraseology' will natm-ally 
blend itself with the expression of serious thought, and "often beforehand 
viii 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUECIY. 



prompt the heart to take the theme of its meditations from the Book of 
divine mysteries. Serious error will thereby be prevented from concealing 
itself among the members of the Church, or cii'culating unopposed. The 
theology of the Clergy cannot be perverted without striking the least obser- 
vant of minds ; and the tone of preaching rendered at any time unspiritual, » 
or cold and obscure, by the fashion of the age, will be in such manifest 
opposition to the character of the Chui^h, that, with God's mercy, a cor- 
rective cannot long be needed. 

Eeasons hke these in favour of an estabhshed Litui^gy are proper to a period 
far remote fi'om the time when Litm^gies were fii'st compiled. Experience 
alone can teach us such arguments in theh^ favom\ Then- origin, therefore, 
is to be looked for in other causes than those which may be assigned for the 
respect in which they have been held in later ages by the wise and good. 
These more primitive reasons for the compilation of Litm^gies may be briefly 
stated. The services of the J ews had been conducted with such a profound 
attention to order, that it was impossible for the precept which enjoined the 
constant assembhng of Christians together to be separated from that which 
directed them to do all things with decency and regularity. In the use of 
psalms appointed for particular occasions, and other parts of the worship of 
the temple, or the synagogue, a precedent was found for the adoption of such 
a system as should leave as little as possible in pubhc worship to experiment. 
The Lord's Prayer was a form of words which His disciples could not but 
feel a particular dehght in repeating together. It was introduced, therefore, 
into aU their ordmances ; and, when offered up in assembhes where the Spirit 
of faith and love exercised His benignant sway, was in itself ahnost a Litm^gy, 
and for the privilege of repeating which, in the company of G-od's children, 
penitent and anxious hearts would be devoutly thankful. The vrords used 
by om^ Lord at the institution of the two sacraments, and which could never 
be lawfully put aside for others, or even for a paraphrase, tended in the same 
manner to the introduction of established forms in the worship of the new 
Chmxh. It was evidently not inconsistent v^^th a divme institution to employ 
regularly the same prayers and hymns in the service of God ; for this was 
authorized by the practice of the Jews : nor could it be considered as an 
infringement on Chiistian or spuitual liberty to repeat the same form of 
words in the most solemn exercises of evangelical devotion ; for Christ Himself 
had given them a form in three instances, fi'om which it would have been 
equally presumptuous and unspiritual to depart. 

But had no reason of this kind existed, the circumstances of the Church 
would of themselves have sho^m the necessity of an established Liturgy. 
Insph^ation itself had not been suf&cient to suppress enth^ely the petulant 
zeal of some of the first members of the Christian community. It was not to 
be supposed that any kind of disciphne could effect that for which the highest 
endowments of mnaculous power had been insufficient. Under the most 
favourable cncumstances, in very small congregations, and when affection 
and reverence had sealed the authority of the pastor, the worship of the 
Church might possibly be carried on mthout the discovery that a rule, or 
ix h 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUKGY. 



form of service, was absolutely necessary to its right conduct. The wisdom 
of the teacher, and the obedience of the people, might, perhaps, insensibly 
establish a discipline and order of worship which, written in the heart, would 
not require the aid of a literal transcription to give it force. But the case 
was altered when congregations became very numerous ; — when obedience to 
the will of the pastor was less the habit of the age, and conflicting opinions 
could not be readily reconciled by his arguments or persuasions. It was 
then found that much would be gained by the use of forms of devotion for 
which the people were prepared, and the propriety and holiness of which 
could not be disputed. "We accordingly find many allusions to set forms of 
prayer in the writings of fathers of the third centmy ; and St. Basil, who 
lived in the fom^th, is known to have composed a Liturgy which, in the course 
of the next century, is said to have been in general use throughout the East. 
From the works of St. Chrysostom it appears that, in his time, every festival 
had its appropriate service — its set prayers, psalms, and lessons ; and that 
the ordinary days had, in a similar manner, their regular services. One of 
the canons of the Council of Laodicea sets this in a still clearer light, for 
it expressly enjoins that the same prayers should be read at matins and 
vespers. 

For a considerable period each bishop had the undisputed right of arranging 
the Liturgy for his diocese without consulting other prelates. There were 
accordingly several Liturgies in existence at an early era ; and, at first, 
perhaps, little inconvenience resulted from this species of independence. 
The faith of the various chm^ches was the same ; — the groundwork of then- 
services differed in no material point ; — and the common spirit of brother- 
hood prevented the introduction of rites which might offend any of the 
worshippers of the one Grod and the one Saviour. But, as the unity of 
the faith began to be assailed by open or secret heresy, and as the primitive 
simplicity yielded to a prouder spirit, the varieties in the several Liturgies 
were made use of to disturb the peace of men's consciences. The bishops, 
therefore, of the several provinces, at length found it expedient to assimilate 
then- Liturgies more closely to each other ; but the existence of so many 
ancient forms, each claiming reverence either on account of the celebrity 
of its author or from the circumstances in which it had its origin, prevented 
the complete success of such a design. Even at the period just preceding 
the Eeformation in this country different Liturgies were used in the different 
provinces ; and the separate orders of monks claimed to themselves a still 
fm-ther right to conduct their services according to their own views. 

This alone would have been sufiicient to induce men of earnest piety to 
desire a change in the arrangement of public worship. But another consi- 
deration, of equal importance with any of those derived from this source, was 
drawn from the custom of performing the services in a language unknown to 
those who were asked to pray with the Church, and own the value of its 
ordinances. This, when combined with the numerous distressing proofs 
that the services of the sanctuary had degenerated into a series of the most 
wretched superstitions, led the Reformers of the English Church to regard 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUEGY. 



the change of the Liturgy as one of the objects which demanded their earHest 

attention. *, 

The &st step made towards this great and important design was the 
appomtment of a committee by the Convocation which met in 1537. This 
committee was chosen for the express purpose of instituting an inquiry into 
the means afforded for the spiritual instruction of the people. From the 
character and learning of the members of the committee, there can be httle 
doubt, that they foresaw much more was to be done than it would be right 
to attempt at the beginning of their labours. But it was the happy feature 
of the proceedings of the early Eeformers that, zealous as they^ were, and 
abounding in knowledge, they were contented to act with the caution of men 
who wished rather to foster the rising spkit of intelligence than to force the 
population to acknowledge what it might not comprehend. 

The first pubhcation issued was entitled ' The Godly and Pious Institu- 
tion of a Christian Man.' This book contained the Lord's Prayer, the Ten 
Commandments, "with many other godly lessons, &c., according to the 
command and injunctions of the King's Highness, to be used through the 
realm." The mixed character of this work may be understood from the 
heading of one of the chapters, ua which it is said, First ye shall pray for 
the whole congregation, especially for the Church of England, wherein first 
for the King's Majesty, supreme head of the spirituahty and temporality of 
the same Church. 2. For the Lords and Commons. 3. Ye shall pray for 
the souls that be departed, that they may have fruition of God's presence." 

About the same time the large Enghsh Bible was set up, and appointed 
to be read in churches. In the year 1540 the work above alluded to was 
revised, and a further revision took place three years afterwards, when, as 
stated in the preface, "it was set forth by the King, with the advice of his 
Clergy ; the Lords, both spiritual and temporal, with the nether House of 
Parhament, having both seen and liked it very well." At length, in 1545, 
the work appeared under the title of the ' King's Primer,' in the preface 
to which the people were taught the necessity of uniformity in the public 
services of the Church, and the evils under which they laboui^ed when 
obhged to attend upon ordinances performed in a language with which they 
were unacquainted. The chief contents of the book as thus revised were the 
Lord's Prayer, the Ave, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and Graces. 
Besides which there were the Matins, the Seven Psalms, the Commenda- 
tions, the Collects, and other Prayers, the translation closely resembling, 
or being the same as, that now in use. 

But it was reserved for Edward YI. to complete the design commenced 
with so much piety and caution. In the first year of his reign (1547), a reso- 
lution was passed by the Convocation, that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
ought to be administered in both kinds. The statement of the Convocation 
was followed by an act of Parhament, and a committee of bishops and others 
was formed with authority to draw up a service in English for the proper 
performance of this sacred ordmance. In the list of this committee occur 
the names accounted most venerable in the ecclesiastical chronicles of the 



XI 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUKGY. 



comitiT. At the head stands that of Cranmer, then Ai'chbishop of Canter- 
hmj : with him were associated Kidley, at that time Bishop of Eochester • 
Cxoodiich, Bishop of Ely ; the Bishops of Lincoln, Chichester, Hereford' 
and others of corresponding note and dignity. 

The mass-book presented the most mekncholy i3roofs of the long reign of 
superstition. It would have demanded the severest revision in any age of 
gTo^-hig hiteUigence, supposing even that the reformation of doctrme'' had 
been a thmg imheard of. But this was much more the case now that the 
views of men respectmg divine mysteries themselves were imdergoing so 
important an alteration. Every time the sacrament was offered according to 
the old forms, the most grievous offence was given to the consciences of those 
who had begun to imbibe and rejoice m the pui^e light of the Gospel. The 
acknowledged right of all behevers in Jesus Christ to partake of the Com- 
munion in both kinds, afforded fuiiher reasons for makmg a vital change in 
the Service. But it was not m the spirit of innovation that such men as 
Cranmer and Eidley could act. They were anxious to promote the glory of 
G-od and the salvation of souls by the use of those consecrated means known 
in the happiest ages of the Chiu^ch. It was not for the sake of intruding 
contrivances of their ovm that they proposed to alter the hitherto -received 
offices. They desired to do nothing more than remove what had been in- 
troduced in corrapt times to separate that which was weak, false, and 
dangerous, from that which had received the indelible stamp of Divme grace 
and truth. When they took the mass-book in theii^ hands, therefore, it^was 
with the feeling, that from its pages might be deiived the substance of a 
communion service which should have the real authority of antiquity, and 
the spiritual pathos of the devotions which had ever been dear to pious 
hearts, but be fi'ee, at the same time, fi'om long-standing errors aud supersti- 
tions. They accordingly selected and translated the most valuable of the 
prayers and hymns contamed in the old form. Where it was deficient they 
made the necessary additions ; and expressions were carefully corrected which 
either conveyed a false notion or seemed deficient in force."^ A work of the 
utmost importance to the Eeformation was effected by this compilation of a 
New Service Book for the Communion. The Office was pubHshed separately, 
and the nation had thereby the means of learning more exactly than ever what 
were the views entertained by those to whom was committed the charge 
of purifying the Church. Eeverence for the mass, with its innumerable 
ceremonies, was one of the feehngs most deeply seated in the hearts of the 
people. No thoughtful and rehgious mmd could have contemplated with- 
out dread the consequences of any design which should tend to diminish a 
reverence for the Sacrament itself. But had not the Eeformers proceeded 
with the utmost caution such would have been the case. The people, seeing 
the Service stripped of its wonted ornaments, or appeahng less forcibly than 
formerly to their imaginations, might have begun to doubt whether any strong 
sentiment of awe would not be misapphed hi respect to an ordinance which 
they had venerated for reasons now proved to be imreal. But the care 
employed in the compilation of the Service prevented this danger. The 
xii 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUKGY. 



majestic simplicity of the Divine mystery slied its spiritual radiance over 
every line of the Office; and devout hearts saw that that only had been 
removed which, while it had, perhaps, excited then- emotions, had hindered, 
in reahty, the clear and deep apprehension of the heavenly vision itself. 

When the Communion Service had been pubhshed, the way seemed open 
for the introduction of a complete Liturgy. The difficulties most to be 
dreaded were overcome by the circulation of the new Office. There could 
be httle fear, that they who had hailed the change in the one instance, as 
founded on the truth and requirements of the (xospel, would fail to see the 
necessity of that which should afford the people at large pure forms of 
devotion m their daily exercises, and in all their appeals to Heaven for its 
guidance or its blessing. 

The greatest confusion as yet prevailed in the mode of conducting pubhc 
worship. This was the natural consequence of the state of Church affairs. 
The leaders of the Eeformation had hitherto been mamly occupied with 
settling the great questions which regarded the independence of the Church, 
and the laws whereby it was in futm^e to be governed. It was not till these 
things were determined that they could turn their attention to the internal 
arrangements of the Church, or properly attempt the exercise of an authority 
requiSte for the purpose. The Latin Mass, therefore, continued to be used 
in some places, while in others it was regarded as an abomination. The 
same comusion prevailed in other parts of the Service, and the preamble to 
the act which was passed to stop these disorders states, that as there had 
long been in use various "forms of Church Service, as those of Sarum, York, 
LuTcoln, and several forms of Common Prayer and Communion," " to stay 
innovations or new rites, and that an uniform, quiet, and godly order should 
be had, his Majesty, by advice of his council, had appointed the Archbishop 
of Canterbury and other learned and discreet bishops to consider the pre- 
mises, and thereupon, having as well an eye and respect to the most sincere 
and pure rehgion taught by the Scriptures, as to the usages of the primitive 
Chmxh, should draw and make one convenient and meet order, rite, and 
fashion of Common Prayer and Administration of Sacraments." 

The venerable men who had drawn up the Office for the Communion 
were engaged to compile the Order of Common Prayer. This work was 
performed in the same conciliatory and devout temper as the former; and, 
after it had undergone the most careful revision, it was confirmed by the 
king and both houses of Parliament, the language of the act describing it as a 
work " concluded with uniform agreement," and " by the aid of the Holy 
Ghost." The act alluded to was passed in 1548, but many obstacles existed 
to the general reception of the new Liturgy. Bonner, Bishop of London, 
and others of the Eoman Cathohc clergy, still possessed their dignities ; _ and 
neither the act, nor an order of council passed soon after, abrogating private 
Masses, could induce them to receive the reformed Services. The committal 
of the prelate to prison, because he would not give up his judgment or violate 
his conscience, was one of those circumstances which cast a shade over the 
conduct of the reformers of the English Church that cannot be easily removed, 
xiii 



HISTOKY OF THE LITUKGIY. 



Bonner had an indisputable right to adhere to a system which he beheved to 
be consistent with the laws of the Church and of God. Had he not desired 
to act agreeably to integrity, he would not have held out against the per- 
suasions of a court, and tliose who enjoyed its smiles. The harsh manner in 
which he was treated proves the lamentable truth, that no system and no set 
of men can be trusted when the argument of expediency is set against the 
argument of either justice or consistency. 

As so much difficulty was found in securing an undivided attention to the 
new Litm-gy, another act of Parliament was passed in 1549. In this it was 
said, "Notwithstanding the settlement of the Book of Common Prayer, yet 
there are other superstitions permitted, occasioning diversity of opinions 
touching the rites of the Church. It is therefore enacted, that all other 
Service-books, or books called Antiphonas, Missals, Grails, Processionals, 
Manuals, Primers, Cowchers, Journals, Ordinals, formerly used, other than 
the king shall set forth, shall be abolished." 

The next year a further proof was given of the judgment with which 
everything was done which concerned the Liturgy itself as the rule of 
public worship. A careful revisal of the whole was undertaken, and this 
because, as was stated in the act passed soon after, there had arisen in the 
use and exercise of the said Common Service, divers doubts for the fashion 
and manner of the administration thereof, rather by the curiosity of the 
ministers and mistakers than of any other worthy cause : Therefore, as well 
for the more plain and manifest explanation thereof, as for the more per- 
fection of the said order of Common Service in some places where it is 
necessary to make the same prayer and fashion of service more earnest, and 
fit to stir Chiistians to the true honouring of God ; therefore the king has 
caused the same former book to be perused, explained, and made fully 
perfect." ^ 

Cranmer had been induced to urge this revisal of tbe new Liturgy by 
the persuasions of the two great foreign divines, Bucer and Martyr ; the one 
professor of divinity at Cambridge, and the other at Oxford. With the 
strong feelings of the Swiss reformers against every trace of Eomish super- 
stition, these celebrated theologians pointed out numerous errors in the 
Services; and Cranmer and his associates having themselves advanced to- 
wards clearer views of doctrme, the book underwent a general and very 
severe examination. The new edition, or, as it is commonly called, the 
Second Book of King Edward, was confirmed by act of Parliament in 1552, 
and ordered to be read on the approaching feast of All Saints, and thence- 
forward, in all the churches of the kingdom. 

Bucer and Martyr allowed nothing to remain which savoured of useless 
ceremony. So great was the veneration paid to their judgment, that, as they 
were imacquainted with English, the whole work had been translated into 
Latin that it might be submitted to then- scrutiny. When it reai^peared, 
those who had tolerated the previous edition, retaining as it did so strong a 
tincture of old opinions, were greatly irritated at the evidence whiclf it 
afforded of the entire change in the sphit of the Church. For the most part 



XIV 



HISTORY OF THE LITUEGY. 



it ^ya3 received with satisfaction, i^otliing was left out which piety recjiured, 
and much was added, the want of which had been evidently felt in the use of 
the former book. Of the additions thus made, the principal were the openmg 
sentences ; the Exhortation, the Confession, and Absolution, in the Morning 
and Evening Service ; and the Ten Commandments in that of the Commu- 
nion. In the fir-st booh, the use of oil in Baptism and in the Yisitation of 
the Siok had been prescribed, according to former usage. Prayers for the 
dead had been inserted in the Communion and Burial Service, and in both 
cases it was now considered there had been a violation of Christian truth 
and simphcity. The present edition, therefore, prescribed neither the use of 
oil, nor prayers for the souls of the departed. In the former book, the Holy 
Ghost was invoked at the consecration of the elements in the Communion, 
and in the prayer of Oblation; this was now discontinued, and the rubric 
was left out which had directed the mixing of water with the wine. 

In the same year that the new edition of the Litm-gy made its appearance, 
forty-two articles on the chief points of religion were published, as agreed 
upon by the bishops, and other learned and good men, in the Convocation" 
held at London in the year 1552, to root out the discord of opinions, and 
estabhsh the agreement of true rehgion." Similar articles had been pub- 
lished by authority of Hemw YIIL, but they were not the result of the same 
wise and deliberate sphit as that which now prevailed. The long discussion 
of the subjects to which they allude had taught the leading divmes of the 
Eeformation both the importance and the difficulty of the task. They 
had for their example the Confession of Augsbui'g to inchne them to draw 
up such a statement of faith. The reformers of Germany owed much to 
the clearness with which the fundamental points of behef were set before 
them in their Confession ; but devout minds could not fail, at the same time, 
to see that human reason is sm^e to err if it would compass or define, without 
assistance from above, those things which are only to be comprehended in the 
language and in the hght of the Divine Sphit. 

The King's Primer was also re-pubhshed this year, and with the addition 
of a part of om^ present Catechism. Another Catechism had been compiled 
by Dr. Poynett, Bishop of Winchester ; and as it was prefaced by an epistle 
from the King, it received the title of King Edward's Catechism. 

Affahs were in this happy state, when the death of the youthful and pious 
monarch put a sudden stop to the progi'ess of the Eeformation, and exposed 
its leaders to a persecution as fearful as had ever been endm^ed in the 
struggles of rehgion against a dark and cruel despotism. The hopes enter- 
tained for a brief season that Queen Mary, notwithstanding her known 
attachment to the Chm^h of Eome, would not employ any violent measm^es 
against the Eeformation, were at once dissipated by the repeal of the acts 
so lately passed in favour of its important designs. Had the rehgious or 
intellectual stato of the nation depended on the favour of the com't, the 
decrees of the infatuated Queen would have quickly plunged it mto the 
darkness of her owii errors. By one of her ordinances the Mass was re- 
stored ; by another the Pope's supremacy ; by a third the marriage of the 

XV 



HISTOKY OF THE LITUKGY. 



clergy was prohibited ; and these were rapidly followed by others of a similar 
kmd, till not a vestige of Protestantism would have remained, had not the 
affections of a vast proportion of the people been too deeply embued with 
the love of the Gospel to allow of its being long or effectually resisted. The 
martyrs that suffered in the persecution which attended the enforcement of 
the papal laws, exhibited a grandeur of character, a fulness of knowledge 
and of faith, that shed a new glory on the Church of the Keformation. 
\\ hile many thus shed their blood in its honour, iUustrating the power of its 
doctrines and the consistency of its children, others were led by the provi- 
dence of God into foreign lands, there to increase in spiritual knowledge 
and experience, and to learn as exiles how to become more eminently useful 
in their native land. 

By the mercy of the great head of the Church, the season of persecution 
was not allowed to be of long duration. Queen Elizabeth ascended the 
thi'one m November, 1558, and measures were immediately taken to restore 
some parts of the Service as estabhshed in the reign of Edward YI. The 
Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Litany, and the 
portions of Scripture appointed for the Epistles and Gospels, were at once 
allowed to be used in English. But with the caution that characterised every 
important proceeding in the English Eeformation, it was deemed expedient 
not to restore the complete Service Book till it had undergone the most careful 
and severe revision. For this purpose a Committee of Divines was formed, 
at the head of whom was Dr. Parker, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury'. 
Grmdal, who subsequently rose to the same dignity; Sandys, Guest, Cox* 
and Pilkington, all of whom were raised to important sees, were members of 
this Committee. For some time it was disputed whether the First or Second 
Book of King Edward should be restored ; and Cecil is said to have very 
earnestly questioned Guest, to whom Parker intrusted a great part of the 
work, respecting the more important differences in the two editions. Some- 
what of pohtical feeling probably entered into the views of the secretary 
m proposing his questions; but it was at length decided that the Second 
Book of King Edward should be estabhshed. Some corrections were then 
made ; the arrangement of the lessons being altered, and the two sentences 
which formed part of the Communion Service in the First Book, but which 
were omitted in the Second, being restored. These sentences were, the 
" body, of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body 
and soul unto everlasting life," and ''the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which was shed for thee," &c. ; and the rubric in the Second Book against 
the real presence was now omitted. Some alteration was also made in the 
Litany, the sentence ''from the Bishop of Eome, and all his detestable 
enormities," which had appeared in the former, edition, being omitted. 
Other alterations were made, and with the same view, it is supposed, of 
soothing the angiy feelings of the opposite party. Among the additions were 
prayers for the Queen, and "for the Clergy and People." Power was also 
given to the bishop to appoint what part of the Church might be most 
convenient for the performance of Morning and Evening Service, instead of 



xvi 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUEGY. 



confining tlie minister to tlie chancel, as had hitherto been the case. ^ By a 
similar rule, the vestments of the clergy, ^hich Lad been disused according to 
an order in the reign of Edward, were restored ; and the ser^dce of the Church 
was generaUy estabhshed on the principles which have ever since continued to 
give it its peculiar character and energy. 

Parhament conferred its authority on the Liturgy thus revised ; and the 
people at large were so well satisfied with its comprehensiveness and 
charitable spirit, that, for ten years, the greater number of _ the Eoman 
Catholics themselves contmued to attend the churches where it was used. 
On the accession of James I., a conference was held at Hampton Com^t, 
between the heads of the Church and the leaders of the Presbyterians. The 
King himself, and ^itgift. Archbishop of Canterbury, were present ^at this 
assembly, and the Puritans were represented by Dr. Eeynolds. Nothmg 
was effected by this conference, except that a few alterations were made m 
the Litm-gy. They consisted in the addition of forms of thanksgivmg for 
several occasions, and of Collects m the Morning and Evening Prayer, and 
in the Litany, an intercession for the Eoyal Family. The administration 
of Baptism was now also restricted to regularly- ordained ministers; and 
the questions and answers respecting the Sacraments were added to the 
Catechism. 

The Kmg's authority only gave force to these alterations, but they were 
received without dispute. Charles I. pm-sued a shnilar com^se, and made 
some slight corrections, which were confirmed by his sole authority. During 
the Commonwealth the Liturgy feU into total disuse. On the Eestoration a 
commission was issued, whereby twelve bishops, and the same number of 
theologians belonging to the Puritan party, with nine assistants on each 
side, were appointed to make a complete review of the Liturgy. The meet- 
ings of this assembly were held in the Savoy, and the dispute was carried on 
\vith an earnestness proportioned to the importance of the subject and the 
zeal of the controversiahsts. But the result was as little satisfactory, so far 
as the union of the parties was concerned, as the dispute was long and severe. 
Some alterations were made in the Litm^gy subsequent to the conference, but 
they origmated with the bishops. Thus the Prayer for all Conditions of 
Men, the General Thanksgivmg, the Prayers for the Ember Weeks, and 
that 'for the Parliament, were added ;— as were also the two psalms in the 
Burial Service, the Office for Baptism of those of Eiper Years, the Form of 
Prayer to be used at Sea, and that for King Charles's Martyrdom. The 
Epistles and Gospels were taken from the last translation of the Bible ; but 
this alteration was not extended to the Psalms, it behig deemed advisable to 
retain the old version, to wliich the people had been so long accustomed. 
Some change was made in the Collects ; and those for Easter Eve, for the 
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, and for the Third Sunday m x\dvent, were noAV 
first inserted. 

The Liturgy, in this its revised and comprehensive form, was confirmed 
by both 'houses of Convocation, and received the signatm-es of the bishops 
xvii . ^ 



HISTOEY OF THE LITUEGY. 

and other orders of clergy. Parliament estaWished it bylaw, and on the 
ami ol May, 1662, it received the sanction of the Kino- 

It was thus that the Book of Common Prayer acquired its present Scrip- 
tiu-al and comprehensiye character. Origmating in a period of strong reli- 
gious teehng, it was repeatedly exposed to the severest scrutiny of the best 
and most enlightened mmds. It passed through seasons of fearful trial and 
remained substantiaUy the same. It was thrown mto the hottest furnace of 
controversy, and came out rendered only the better by the severity of the 
test. So various is the provision which it makes for the expression of our 
leelmgs m the house of prayer, that no senthnent is without its corresponding 
language— no desire without its argument for the throne of grace The 
mtermmglmg of ancient confessions of faith with the prayers and thanks- 
givings, happHy con&ms the heart in its trust ; and the copious extracts 
from Scriptui-e diffuse a sacred hght over the whole. Compiled from the 
vast storehouses of devout antiquity, the Litui'gy of om^ Church hke the 
Chm-ch Itself, did not in reahty begin to exist when first exhibited in its 
present form. Its largest and most important portions were the blessed 
produce of Apostolic times, and the ever-valued possession of the universal 
Chui^ch m aU its struggles and afflictions. Melancholy would be the state of 
the world were the lessons of experience suddenly to be set aside for imtried 
opmions ; but far more melancholy would be that of the Chm^ch were it ever to 
be obliged to receive forms of prayer, confessions of faith, or offices, not di^awn 
trom those pure som^ces which fuimished the materials for the Book of Common 
Prayer. . 



xviii 



THE 



CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK. 



1. J^EE Preface. 

2. Concerning the Service of the Church. 

3. Concerning Ceremonies, ivhy some he abolished, and some retained. 

4. The Order how the Pscdter is appointed to he read. 

5. TJie Order how the rest of the holy Scripture is appointed to he read. 

6. A Table of Proper Lessons and Pscdms. 

7. The Ccdendar, with the Table of Lessons. 

8. Tables and Bides for the Feasts and Fasts through the ivhole Year. 

9. Tlie Order for Morning Prayer. 

10. The Order for Evening Prayer. 

11. The Creed of St. Athanasius. 

12. The Litany. 

13. Prayers and TJianhsgivings upon severed occasions. 

14. The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, to be used at the Ministration of the holy 

Communion, throughout the Year. 

15. The Order of the Ministration of the ho-y Communion. 

16. The Order of Baptism both Publich and Private. 

17. The Order of Baptism for those of Phiper Years. 

18. Tlie Catechism. 

19. Tlie Order of Confirmation. 

20. The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 

21. The Order for the Visitation of the SicTc, and the Communion of the Sich. 

22. The Order for the Burial of the Dead. 

23. Tlie Tlianksgiving of Women after Child-birth. 

24. A Commination, or denouncing of GocVs anger and judgements against sinners. ' 

25. The Psalter. 

26. Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea. 

27. Tlie Form and Manner of MaMng, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, 

Priests, and Deacons. 

28. A Form of Prayer for the Fifth Day of Novemher. 

29. A Form of Prayer for the Thirtieth Day of January. 

30. A Form of Prayer for the Twenty-ninth Day of May. 

31. A Form of Prayer for the Twentieth Day of June. 

32. Prayers for the Lord Lieutenant of Beland. 

33. Articles of Beligion. 

xix 



i 



I 



I I 

i 





AT' 





IT hath been the wisdom of the Church of England, ever since the first 
compiling of her publick Liturgy, to keep the mean between the two 
extremes, of too much stiffness in refusing, and of too much easiness in 
admitting any variation from it. For, as on the -one side common ex- 
perience sheweth, that where a change hath been made of things advisedly 
established (no evident necessity so requiring) sundry inconveniences have 
thereupon ensued ; and those many times more and greater than the evils 
that were intended to be remedied by such change : So on the other side, 
the particular forms of divine worship, and the rites and ceremonies 
appointed to be used therein, being things in their own nature indifferent, 
and alterable, and so acknowledged; it is but reasonable, that upon 
weighty and important considerations, according to the various exigency of 
times and occasions, such changes and alterations should be made therein, 
as to those that are in ]olace of Authority should from time to time seem 
either necessary or expedient. Accordingly we find, that in the reigns of 
several princes of blessed memory since the Eeformation, the Chui'ch, upon 
just and weighty considerations her thereunto moving, hath yielded to 
make such alterations in some particulars, as in their respective times were 
thought convenient : yet so, as that the main body and essentials of it (as 
well in the chiefest materials, as in the frame and order thereof) have still 
continued the same unto this day, and do yet stand firm and unshaken, 
notwithstanding all the vain attempts and impetuous assaults made against 
it, by such men as are given to change, and have always discovered a 
xxi 



THE PEEPACE. 



foftfpXk.'" °™ '^""^^ ''''' interests., than to that duty they owe 

By what undue means, and for what mischieTous pm-poses the u=e of tliP T 
though enjoined by the laws of the land, and those law! n ^7 yetlej S oaT 
dm-mg the lat. unhappy confusions, to be discontinued, is too weU Ctn toThl 
world, and we are not wiUing here to renaember. But when, upon ffisTia estV 
happy restoration, it seemed probable, that, amongst other tlings, the use ff the 
Lr m.gy would also retui-n of cour-se (the same having never been 1 gaUy lohlVed) 
unless some tunely means were used to prevent it; those men, who under the laS 
«sm.ped powers had made it a great part of their- business to reader the peol ^ 

S tt™ldT^"^^ ? ^f* °^-P"*«tion and interest^oLei 
(unles. they would freely acknowledge themselves to have erred, which such men 
are very hardly brought to do) with theii. utmost endeavom-s to' hinder he reT 
^utron hereof . In order whereunto divers pamphlets were pubKshed gat te 
Book of Common Prayer, the old objections mustered up, with the addition of ome 
new ones, more than formerly had been made, to make the number sweU In Te 

fe'sedTd t" M^j-i-' tl^at the said Book might be 
evised and such alterations therein, and additions thereunto made, as shoSd be 
thought requisite for the ease of tender consciences: whereunto Hi^s MaS out 
of his pious melmat on to give satisfaction (so far as could bo reasonabS^" ect d 
to all his subjects of what persuasion soever, did gi-aciouslv condescend ^ ' 
to bnv 'T^ ""l^Z^ endeavoui-ed to observe the liie moderation, as we find 

to have been used m the like case in foi-mer times. And therefore of the s^i^y 
alterations pi^posed imto us, we have rejected aU such as were either of dangerous 
consequence as secretly striking at some established doctrine, or laudable practice 
of the Church of England, or indeed of the whole Catholick 6hurch of ChSs^ i 
eke of no consequence at aU, but utterly frivolous and vain. But such alterafon 
as were tendered t. us (by what persons, under what pretences, or to w^a p— 
~ tendered) as seemed to us in any degi-ee requisite or expedient, weTve 

s™^;; °' T ■ "^'^ -^^"-^ - to by any 

Fot w ' T'"'^ °^ "^'"''''y °f -^^^S alterations 

!Z 7Z7 f^^rrff f our judgements (and we here profess it to the worfd) 
hat the Book, as it stood before estabHshed by law, doth not contain in it anv thin, 
conti-ary to the word of God, or to somid doctrine, or wMch a godlv man may nol 
with a good conscience use and submit unto, or wHch is not faii-ly defensible a.4inst 
any that shaU oppose the same ; if it shaU be aUowed such just and Wabfe c"n 
stmction as m common equity ought to be aUowed to all human writin<.sZeciX 

St^r itstr* '-'^ '° '"-^ ^^'--^ translationfofTS 

Oiir genei^al aim therefore in this imdertaking was, not to gratify this or that 

'ZZ^7 "^r^°"f '^^"''■^^^^ ■' '^"^ *° -^^"^ *° ol bTst Ifet 

tt c3,r r *° '''' presei-vation of peace and unity in 

publick woiship of God; and the cutting off occasion fi-om them that seek occasion 
of cavil or quarrel against the Litiirgy of the Church. And as to the seveiX k- 
tions from the former Book, whether by alteration, addition, or otherwise, it ,sh^ 
suffice to give thLs general account. That most of the alterations were made, either 
first, for the better direction of them th.at are to ofaciate in any part of Divine 
service ; which is chiefly done in the Calendars and Eubricks : Or secondlv for tl-e 
more proper expressing of some words or phrases of ancient usage in terns more 



CONCERNING THE SEEVICE OF THE CHUECH. 



suitable to the language of tlie present times, and tlie clearer explanation of some 
other words and phrases, that were either of donbtful signification, or otherwise 
liable to misconstruction : Or thirdly, for a more perfect rendering of such portions 
of holy Scripture, as are inserted into the Liturgy ; which, in the Epistles and 
Gospels especially, and in sundry other places, are now ordered to be read accord- 
ing to the last translation : and that it was thought convenient, that some Prayers 
and Thanksgivings, fitted to special occasions, should be added in their due places ; 
particularly for those at Sea, together with an office for the Baptism of such as are 
of Eiper Years : which, although not so necessary when the former Book was com- 
piled, yet hy the growth of Anabaptism, through the licentiousness of the late 
times crept in amongst us, is now become necessary, and may be always useful for 
the baptizing of natives in our plantations, and others converted to the faith. If 
any man, who shall desire a more particular account of the several alterations in 
any part of the Liturgy, shall take the pains to compare the present Book with the 
former ; we doubt not but the reason of the change may easily appear. 

And having thus endeavoured to discharge our duties in this weighty affair, as 
in the sight of God, and to approve our sincerity therein (so far as lay in us) to the 
consciences of all men ; although we know it impossible (in such variety of appre- 
hensions, humours and interests, as are in the world) to please all ; nor can expect 
that men of factious, peevish, and perverse spirits should be satisfied with any thing 
that can be done in this kind by any other than themselves : yet we have good hope, 
that what is here presented, and hath been by the Convocations of both Provinces 
with great diligence examined and approved, will be also well accepted and 
approved by all sober, peaceable, and truly conscientious sons of the Church of 
England. 



Concerning the Service of the Church. 

THEEE was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so sure 
established, which in continuance of time hath not been corrupted : as, among 
other things, it may plainly appear by the Common Prayers in the Church, 
commonly called Divine Service. The first original and ground whereof if a man 
would search out by the ancient Fathers, he shall find, that the same was not 
ordained but of a good purpose, and for a great advancement of godliness. For 
they so ordered the matter, that all the whole Bible (or the greatest part thereof) 
should be read over once every year; intending thereby, that the Clergy, and 
especially such as were Ministers in the congregation, should (by often reading, and 
meditation in God's word) be stirred up to godliness themselves, and be more able 
to exhort others by wholesome doctrine, and to confute them that were adversaries 
to the truth ; and further, that the people (by daily hearing of holy Scripture read 
in the Church) might continually profit more and more in the knowledge of God, 
and be the more inflamed with the love of his true religion. 

But these many years passed, this godly and decent order of the ancient Fathers 
hath been so altered, broken, and neglected, by planting in uncertain stories, and 
legends, with multitude of responds, verses, vain repetitions, commemorations, and 
synodals ; that commonly when any book of the Bible was begun, after three or 
four chapters were read out, all the rest were um-ead. And in this sort the book of 
Isaiah was begun in Advent, and the book of Genesis in Septuagesima ; but they 
v/ere only begun, and never read through : after like sort were other books of holy 
Scripture used. And moreover, v/hereas St. Paul would have such language spoken 
xxiii 



CONCEENING THE SEKVICE OF THE CHUKCH. 



to the people in the Church, as they might understand, and have profit by hearino- 
the same; the service in this Church of England these many years hath been read 
m Latin to the people, which they understand not; so that they have heard with 
their ears only, and their heart, spirit, and mind, have not been edified thereby. 
And furthermore, notwithstanding that the ancient Fathers have divided the Psalms 
into seven portions, whereof every one was called a Nocturn : now of late time a 
few of them have been daily said, and the rest utterly omitted. Moreover, the 
number and hardness of the rules called the Pie, and the manifold changings of the 
service, was the cause, that to turn the book only was so hard and intricate a 
matter, that many times there was more business to find out what should be read, 
than to read it when it was found out. 

These inconveniences therefore considered, here is set forth such an order, 
whereby the same shall be redressed. And for a readiness in this matter, here is 
drawn out a Calendar for that purpose, which is plain and easy to be understood; 
wherein (so much as may be) the reading of holy Scripture is so set forth, that all 
things shall be done in order, without breaking one piece from another. For this 
cause be cut off Anthems, Eesponds, Invitatories, and such like things as did break 
the continual course of the reading of the Scripture. 

Yet, because there is no remedy, but that of necessity there must be some rules ; 
therefore certain rules are here set forth ; which, as they are few in number, so they 
are plain and easy to be understood. So that here you have an order for prayer, 
and for the reading of the holy Scripture, much agreeable to the mind and purpose 
of the old Fathers, and a great deal more profitable and commodious, than that 
which of late was used. It is more profitable, because here are left out many 
things, whereof some are untrue, some uncertain, some vain and superstitious ; and 
nothing is ordained to be read, but the very pure word of God, the holy Scriptures, 
or that which is agreeable to the same ; and that in such a language and order as is 
most easy and plain for the understanding both of the readers and hearers. It is 
also more commodious, both for the shortness thereof, and for the plainness of the 
order, and for that the rules be few and easy. 

^ And whereas heretofore there hath been great diversity in saying and singing 
in Churches within this realm ; some following Salisbury use, some Hereford use, 
and some the use of Bangor, some of York, some of Lincoln ; now from henceforth 
all the whole realm shall have but one use. 

And forasmuch as nothing can be so plainly set forth, but doubts may arise in the 
use and practice of the same ; to appease all such diversity (if any arise) and for the 
resolution of all doubts, concerning the manner how to understand, do, and execute, 
the things contained in this Book ; the parties that so doubt, or diversly take any 
thing, shall always resort to the Bishop of the diocese, who by his discretion shall 
take order for the quieting and appeasing of the same ; so that the same order be 
not^ contrary to any thing contained in this Book. And if the Bishop of the diocese 
be m doubt, then he may send for the resolution thereof to the Archbishop. 

mnOUGH it be appointed, that all things shall be read and sung in the Church 
± in the English tongue, to the end that the congregation may be thereby edified ; 
yet it is not meant, but that when men say Morning and Evening Prayer privately, 
they may say the same in any language that they themselves do understand. 

And all Priests and Deacons are to say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer 
either privately or openly, not being let by sickness, or some other urgent cause. 

And the Curate that ministereth in every Parish-church or Chapel, being at home, 
xxiv 



OF CEKEMONIES. 



and not being otherwise reasonably hindered, shall say the same in the Parish- 
church or Chapel where he ministereth, and shall canse> bell to be tolled there- 
unto a convenient time before he begin, that the people may come to hear God's 
word, and to pray with him. 



Of CEREMONIES, why some he abolished, and some retained. 

OF such Ceremonies as be used in the Church, and have had their beginning by 
the institution of man, some at the first were of godly intent and pui^pose 
devised, and yet at length tm^ned to vanity and superstition : some entered into 
the Church by undiscreet devotion, and such a zeal as was without knowledge ; 
and for because they were winked at in the beginning, they grew daily to more 
and more abuses, which not only for their unprofitableness, but also because they 
have much blinded the people, and obscui-ed the glory of God, are worthy to be cut 
away, and clean rejected : other there be, which although they have been devised 
by man, yet it is thought good to reserve them still, as well for a decent order in 
the Chui'ch, (for the which they were first devised) as because they pertain to edifi- 
cation, whereunto all things done in the Church (as the Apostle teacheth) ought to 
be referred. 

And although the keeping or omitting of a ceremony, in itself considered, is but 
a small thing ; yet the wdlful and contemptuous transgression and breaking of a 
common order and discipline is no small offence before God, " Let all things be 
done among you," saith St. Paul, " in a seemly and due order :" the appointment 
of the which order pertaineth not to private men ; therefore no man ought to take 
in hand, nor presume to appoint or alter any publick or common order in Christ's 
Church, except he be lawfully called and authorized thereunto. 

And whereas in this our time, the minds of men are so diverse, that some 
think it a great matter of conscience to depart from a piece of the least of their 
ceremonies, they be so addicted to their old customs ; and again on the other side, 
some be so new-fangled, that they would innovate all things, and so despise the 
old, that nothing can like them, but that is new : it was thought expedient, not so 
much to have respect how to please and satisfy either of these parties, as how^ to 
please God, and profit them both. And yet lest any man should be offended, 
whom good reason might satisfy, here be certain causes rendered, why some of the 
accustomed ceremonies be put away, and some retained and kept still. 

Some are put away, because the great excess and multitude of them hath so 
increased in these latter days, that the burden of them was intolerable ; whereof 
St. Augustine in his time complained, that they were grown to such a number, that 
the estate of Christian people was in worse ease concerning that matter, than were 
the Jews. And he counselled that such yoke and burden should be taken away, as 
time would serve quietly to do it. But what would St. Augustine have said, if he 
had seen the ceremonies of late days used among us ; whereunto the multitude 
used in his time was not to be compared ? This our excessive multitude of cere- 
monies was so great, and many of them so dark, that they did more confound and 
darken, than declare and set forth Christ's benefits unto us. And besides this, 
Christ's Gospel is not a ceremonial law (as much of Moses' law was), but it is a 
religion to serve God, not in bondage of the figui-e or shadow, but in the freedom 
of the spirit ; being content only with those ceremonies which do serve to a decent 
order and godly discipline, and such as be apt to stir up the dull mind of man to 
XXV d 



% PEOPEE LESSOXS 



To be read at Mornmj and Evening Prayer, on the Sundays, and other Holy-d, 

tlirouglwut the Year. 



^ LESSOXS PEOPEE FOE SUXDAYS. 



Sundays of 
Advent. 
1 

9 



Mattias. I Evensong. 



\ Sundays after 
Christmas. 

1 

2 



Sundays after 
the Epiphany. 

1 

2 — 

3 

4 



o 

Septuagesinia. 

Sexagesima, 

Quinrpmgesima. 

Sundays in Lent. 
1 • 

3 

4 

5 

6 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson, 

Easter day. 

1 Lesson, 

2 Lesson. 

Sundays after 
Easter. 

3 



Isaiuli 



1 I.~aiali 2 

5 24 

25 ■ 2o 

30 32 



41 



44 
51 
55 
57 

59 
65 



46 
53 
56 
5S 
64 
63 



Genesis 1 ' Genesis 2 
3 6 



-9 to V. 20 



-19 to r.30 
— 27 



12 



Exodus 



Mattli. 



Exodus 
Romans 



39 
43 



Exodus 



Nnmb. 16 

23,24 

Center. 4 



22 

34 
42 
45 
5 

10 ' 

Heb. 5 to V. ■ 

(11 

Exodus 14 
Acts 2 V. 22 



Xumb. 22 

25 

Deuter. 5 



Sundays after 

4 

5 



Sunday after 
Ascension-day. 

Whit-Sunday. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

TriniAy Sunday, 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 



Su'/ldriy.i nft'^r 
Trinity. 

1 

9 



4 
5 
6 
7 
S 
9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18- ■ 

19 

20 ■ 

21 ■ 

22 - 

23 ■ 

24 - 

25 - 

26 - 



Matxins. < Evensong. 

Deuter. 6 , Deuter. 7 
8 9 



12 



(v. 18 
Deut. 16 to 
Acts 10 V. 
(34 



13 



Isaiab 11 
Acts 19 to V. 
(21 



Genesis 
Mattli. 



1 Genesis 18 
3 1 Jolm 5 



Joshua 
J udges 
1 Sam. 



10 
4 
2 
12 
15 
12 
21 



J osliua 
Judges 
1 Sam. 



23 





3 
13 
17 

2 Sara. 12 ' 2 Sam. 19 
24 

1 Kinsrs 17 

^ 19 

22 

2 Kinsrs 9 

— 18 

23 

Jerem. 22 

36 

Ezeldel 2 ; Ezekiel 13 
18 
24 



1 Kin^s 13 

18 

21 

5 
10 
19 
5 
35 
2 
14 
20 



2 Kinars 



Jerem. 



Daniel 
Joel 
Habak. 
ProT. 



2 
2 
2 
11 
13 
15 
17 



Daniel 
3ricali 
Prov. 



6 
1 
3 
12 
14 
16 
19 



XXVIU 



*[ LESSONS PROPEK FOE HOLY-DAYS. 



S. Andrew. 

S. Thomas 
the Apostle. 



S. Stephen 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lessou. 

■S. John. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Innocents' Day. 

Circumcision. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Epiphany. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Conversion of 
8. Paul. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 



Thursday hefore 
Easter. 
1 Lesson. 
" 2 Lesson. 

Good-Friday. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Easter Even. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 



Mattins. 
Prov. 20 



23 

(v. 8 
Isaiah. 9 to 
Lnke 2 to v. 

(15 

Prov. 28 

i Acts 6 ^\ 8 
! (& ch. 7 to 
; {v. 30 

Eccles. 5 
Eevel. 1 

Jer. 31 to V. 

(18 

Genesis 17 
Eomans 2 

Isaiah. 60 
Luke 3 to v. 
(23 

Wisdom 5 
Acts 22 to ^^ 
(22 

Wisdom 9 
19 

Ecclus. 2 



Hosea 13 
John 11 V. 
(45 

Daniel 9 
John 13 

(20 

Gen. 22 to ^5. 
John 18 



Zechariah 9 
Luke 23 v. 
(50 



Evensong. 
Prov. 21 



24 ! 

(to V. 17 I 
Isai. 7 V. 10 

Titus 3 4 

(to V. 9 I 

Eccles. 4 I 

Acts 7 V. 30 j 

(to V. 55 ! 



Eccles. 6 
Eevel. 22 

Wisdom 1 

(12 

Deut. 10 V. 
Coloss. 2 

Isaiah 49 
John 2 to V. 
(12 

Wisdom 6 
Acts 26 



Wisdom 12 
Ecclus. 1 



3 



Hosea 14 



Jerem. 31 



Isaiah 53 
1 Peter 2 

Exodus 13 
Hebrews 4 



Monday in 
Easter-Weeh. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Tuesday in 
Easter-Weeh. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

S. 3Iark. 
S. Philip and 
S. James. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Ascension-day. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Monday in 
Whitsun-ioeek. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

Tuesday in 
Whitsun-ioeeJi. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

^S*. Barnabas. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

S. John Baptist. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

S. Peter. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

S. James. 
S. Bartholomeio. 
8. Matthew. 

8. Michael. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 

8. Luke. 

8. 8imon and 
8. Jude. 

All 8aints. 

1 Lesson. 

2 Lesson. 



Mattins. 

Exodus 16 
Matth. 28 



Exodus 20 
Luke 24 to 
{v. 13 
Ecclus. 4 



Jolml v. 43 



Deut. 10 
Luke 24 v. 
(44 

{v. 10 
Gen. 11 to 
1 Cor. 12 



(18 

1 Sam. 19 V. 
1 Thess. 5 V. 
(12 to V. 24 

Ecclus. 10 
Acts 14 



Malachi 3 
Matthew 3 



Ecclus. 15 
Acts 3 

Ecclus. 21 

24 

35 



Genesis 32 
Acts 12 to 
{y. 20 
Ecclus. 51 



Job 24, 25 

{v. 10 
Wisd. 3 to 
Hebr. 11 v. 
(.33 & cli. 12 
(to V. 7. 



Evensong. 

Exodus 17 
Acts 3 



Exodus 32 
1 Cor. 15 

Ecclus. 5 



9 



2 Kings 2 
Eph. 4 to V. 
(17 

(16 to V. 30 
Num. 11 V. 
1 Cor. 14 to 

{v, 26 

Deut. 30 
1 John 4 to 
{v. 14 

Ecclus. 12 
Acts 15 to 
{v. 36 

Malachi 4 
Matth. 14 to 
(v. 13 

Ecclus. 19 
Acts 4 

Ecclus. 22 

29 

■ 38 

Dan. 10 V. 5 

Jude V. 6 to 
{v. 16 
Job 1 



42 

{v. 17 
Wisd. 5 to 
Eev. 19 to 

{v. 17 



\ Nativity of Cfirist.i 
i 1 Lesson. ! 
; 2 Lesson. I 



Purification of the 
Virgin Mary. 

8. Matthias. 

i Annunciation of 
I our Lady. 

j Wednesday lefore 
I Easter. 
\ 1 Lesson. 
2 Lesson. 



% PEOPER PSALMS ON CEETAIN DAYS. 



Christmas-Day. 


Mattins. 
19, 45, 85 


Evensong. 
89, 110, 132 


Easter-Day. 


Mattins. 
2, 57, 111 


Evensong. 
113, 114,118 


Ash- Wednesday. 


6, 32, 38 


102, 130, 143 


Ascension- Day. 


8, 15, 21 


24, 47,108 


Good-Friday. 


22, 40, 54 


69, 88 


Whit-8unday. 


48, 68 


104, 105 



xxix 




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xxxiii 



e 



! 

TABLES AND RULES 

j FOR THE MOVEABLE AND IMMOVEABLE FEASTS; TOGETHER WITH THE DAYS OF 
i FASTING AND ABSTINENCE, THROUGH THE WHOLE YEAR 



liULES to hnoiu when the MoveaUe Feasts and Roly-days legin. 
jn^AST EE-BAY (ou wliicli the rest depend) is always the Fii-st Sunday after the Full Moon 
y^]ixc\i happens ig^on or next after the Twenty-first day of March; and if the Fiill 
IMoon happens upon a Sunday, Easter-Day is the Sunday after. 

aftei '^''^''^""'^''^ ""^^'^^^^ ^""'''^''^ ■^^'"'^ ^^^"^^ ^/zc^reM,, whetlier before or 

Mne ) 
Eiffht I 

Seven | ^^^'^^ before Easter. 
{ Six J 
( Five Weeks j 

Seven meks 
( Eight Weeks ) 



Septuagesima 
Sexagesima [ 
Quinquagesima { 
Quadragesima j 
Bogation-Sunday 
A scension-Day 
Whit-Sunday 
Trinity-Sunday 



Sunday is 



A TABLE cf all the Feasts that are to he observed in the Church 0/ England 
throughout the Year. 



All Sundays in the Year. 

("The Circumcision of our Lord JESUS 

CHRIST. 
The Epiphany. 
The Conversion of S. Paul 
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin. 
S. 3Iatthias the Apostle. 
< The Annunciation of the Blessed Viro-in 
S. Marh the Evangelist. 
S. Fhilip and S. James the Apostles. 



our Lord JESUS 



The Ascension 

CHRIST. 
S, Barnabas. 
I The Nativity of S. John Baptist. 

Monday and Tuesday in Easter- Week. 



r S. Peter the Apostle. 
S. James the Apostle. 
S. Bartholomevj the Apostle. 
S. Matthew the Apostle. 
S. 3Iichael and all Angels. 
S, Luke the Evangelist. 
S. Simon and S. Jude the Apostles. 
AU Saints. 

S. Andrew the Apostle. 
S. Thomas the Apostle. 
The Nativity of om- Lord. 
S. Stephen the Martyr. 
S. John the Evangelist. 
^ The Holy Innocents. 
Monday and Tuesday in Wliitsun-Week . 



A TABLE of the Vigils, Fasts, and Days of Abstinence, to be observed 
in the Year. 



The Evens 
or Vigils 
before 



{ The Nativity of our Lord. 

The Piu-ification of the 
Virgin Mary. 

The Annunciation of the Blessed 
■{ Vhgin. 

Easter-Day. 

Ascension- Day, 

Pentecost. 
[ S. Matthias. 



The Evens 
or Vigils 
before 



{ S. John Baptist. 
S. Peter. 
S. James. 
S. Bartholomew. 
{ S. Matthew. 
S. Simon and S. Jude. 
S. Andrew. 
S. Thomas. 
(All Saints. 



Not., that ii-any ^^"-^'f^ays ^ then the Vigil or Fast-Day shall be kept upon 

uie ,^at«« aay, and not upon the Sunday next before it. 



Ill, 



IV 



I, 

IL 
III. 

IV= 



Daijs of Fasting, or Abstinence. 
The Forty Days of Lent. / rpi ^ -cr-. o 7 • x x 

The E^ber.Diys at the Four Seasons, being the Se' least or&o.^*"*' 

All the Fridays in the Year, except CHEISTMAS-DAY. 



^, „.ff't"' J^'»JX,for which particular Services are appointed. 

The Th rtietl^lfr/f '''T-*''" '?''yi'^P' Memory of the Papists' Conspu-acy. 

^"'Eav'f'*'' °" ^^'"'='> H«- Majesty began her happy 



xxxiv 



A TABLE TO FIND EASTEK-DAY, 

From the present Time till the Year 1899 inclusive, according to the foregoing 

Calendar. 



Golden i Days of the 
Number. I Month. 




March— 21 

22 

23 

25 

26 

—27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 



April 



- 9 

-10 

•11 

-12 

-13 

-14 

-15 

-16 

-17 

-18 

-19 

-20 

-21 

-22 

-23 

-24 

-25 



C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

A 

B 





THIS Table contains so much of the Ca- 
lendar as is necessary for the deter- 
mining of Easter; to find which, look for 
the Golden Number of the Year in the First 
Column of the Table, against which stands 
the Day of the Paschal Full Moon ; then look 
in the Third Column for the Simday-Letter, 
next after the Day of the Full Moon, and the 
Day of the Month standing against that Sun- 
day Letter is Easter-Bmj. If the Full Moon 
happens upon a Sunday, then (according to 
the First Rule) the next Sunday after is 
Easter-Day. 

To find the Golden Number, or Prime, add 
1 to the Year of oiu- Lord, and then divide 
by 19 ; the Eemainder, if any, is the Golden 
Number ; but if nothing remaineth, then 19 
is the Golden Number. 

To find the Dominical or Sunday Letter, 
according to the Calendar, until 
the Year 1799 inclusive, add to 
■ the Year of our Lord its Fourth 
Part, omitting Fractions ; and also 
the Number 1 : Divide the Sum by 
7 ; and if there is no Eemainder, 
then A is the Sunday Letter : But 
if any Number remaineth, then 
the Letter standing against that Number in 
the small annexed Table, is the Sunday Letter. 

For the next Century, that is, from the Year 
1800 till the Year 1899 inclusive, add to the 
current Year only its Fourth Part, and then 
divide by 7, and proceed as in the last Eule. 

Note, that in all Bissextile or Leap-Years, 
the Letter found as above will be the Sunday 
Letter, from the intercalated Day exclusive to 
the End of the Year. 






A 


1 


G 


2 


F 


3 


E 


4 


D 


5 


C 


6 


B 



XXXV 



ANOTHEE TABLE TO FIND EASTER 

Till tJie Year 1899 inclusive. 





SUNDAY LETTERS. 


Golden 








i 


1 E 




i 


Number. 


A 


B 


C 


! - 




F 


G 


T 
1 


April 16 


i 

—17 


18 


19 


! 

i 20 


24 


ID 


TT 
11 


April 9 




4 


5 




7 


8 


III 


Mfircli 26 


27 


28 


29 


■ 23 


24 


25 


T"vr 


April 16 


17 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


V 


April 2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


Mar.31 


April 1 


VI 


April 23 


24 


25 


19 


20 


21 


22 


VII 


April 9 


10 


.11 


12 


13 


14 


8 


vin 


April 2 


3 


Mar.28 


29 


30 


31 


April 1 


IX 


April 16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


21 


22 


X 


April 9 


10 


11 


5 


6 


■ 7 


8 


XI 


March 26 


27 


^ 28 


29 


30 


—31 


25 


xn 


April 16 


17 


18 


19 


13 


14 


15 


XIII 


April 2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


XIV 


March 26 


27 


28 


22 


-23 


-24 


25 


XV 


April 16 


10 


11 i 


12 


13 


14 


15 


XVI 


April 2 


3 


4 


5 


Mar.30 


31 


April 1 


xvn 


April 23 


24 


18 


19 


20 


21 


22 


xvin 


April 9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


7 


8 


XIX 


April 2 


Mar.27 


—28 


29 


30 


31 

1 


April 1 



fjpo make use of the preceding Table, find the Sunday Letter for the Year in the 
- uppermost Line, and the Golden Number, or Prime, in the Column of Golden 
Numbers, and against the Prime, in the same Line under the Sunday Letter, you have 
the Day of the Month on which Easter falleth that Year. But note, that the Name of 
the Month is set on the Left Hand, or just with the Fig-ui-e, and foUoweth not, as in 
■ other Tables, by Descent, but Collateral. 

1 
I 



xxxvi 



A TABLE OF THE MOVEABLE FEASTS 

FOR FIFTY-TWO YEARS, 
According to the foregoing Calendar, 



The 
Year of 

our 
LOKD. 


Golden Number. 


The Epact. [ 


Sunday Letter. 


Sundays after Epiph. | 


Septua- 
gesima 
Sunday. 


The 
First Day 
of 
Lent. 


Easter- 
Day. 


1846 


A 


o 
o 


D 


4 


Feb. 8 


Feb.25 


Apr.l2 


1847 


o 


14 


C 


3 


Jan. 31 


17 


4 


1848 


ft 




BA 


g 


Feb.20 


Mar. 8 


— ^23 


1849 


7 
/ 


ft 


G 


4 


4 


Feb.21 


8 


1850 


c 

o 


1 / 


F 


2 


Jan. 27 


13 


Mar.31 


1851 


Q 


9S 


E 


5 


Feb. 16 


Mar. 5 


Apr.20 


1852 


1 n 
xu 


q 


DC 




8 


Feb.25 


11 


1853 


11 






2 


Jan. 23 


9 


Mar.27 


1854 


iz 


1 


A 

JTl 


o 


Feb. 12 


Mar. 1 


Apr.l6 


1855 


lo 


12 


VT 


4 


4 


Feb.21 


8 


' 1856 


14: 


9^1 


17 TP, 


\ 


Jan. 20 


— — 6 


Mar.23 


1857 


10 


A 


J) 


4 


Feb. 8 


25 


Apr.l2 


1858 


1 ft 

Id 


10 




o 


Jan. 31 


17 


4 


1859 


1 / 


9fi 


X) 


ft 
u 


Feb.20 


Mar. 9 


24 


1860 


lo 




A H- 


4 


5 


Feb. 22 


8 


1861 


ly 


IS 
lo 


jj 


2 


Jan. 27 


13 


Mar.31 


1862 


1 


A 
U 


Tf 


o 


Feb. 16 


Mar. 5 


Apr.20 


1863 


9 


w 


13 


3 


1 


Feb. 18 


5 


1864 


Q 


99 


v^JJ 


2 


Jan. 24 


10 


Mar.27 


1865 


A 

'± 




A 


5 


Feb.l2 


Mar. 1 


Apr. 16 


1866 


K 

Q 


14 


G 


3 


Jan. 28 


Feb.l4 


1 


1867 


o 


9^ 

zo 


F 


5 


Feb. 17 


Mar. 6 


21 


1868 


7 


6 


ED 


4 


9 


Feb.26 


12 


1869 


8 


17 


C 


2 


Jan. 24 


10 


Mar.28 


1870 


9 


28 


B 


5 


Feb. 13 


Mar. 2 


Apr.l7 


1871 


10 


9 


A 


4 


5 


Feb. 22 


9 


1872 


11 


20 


GF 


3 


Jan. 28 


14 


Mar.31 


1878 


12 


1 


E 


4 


Feb. 9 


26 


Apr. 13 


1874 


13 


12 


D 


3 


1 


18 


5 


1875 


14 


23 


C 


2 


Jan. 24 


10 


Mar.28 


1876 


15 


4 


BA 


5 


Feb. 13 


Mar. 1 


Apr.l6 


1877 


16 


15 


G 


3 


Jan. 28 


Feb.14 


1 


1878 


17 


26 


F 


5 


Feb. 17 


Mar. 6 


21 


1 S7Q 

lo /y 


18 


7 


E 


4 


g 


TT^iK 9ft 

s eo.zD 


X3 


1880 


19 


18 


DC 


2 


Jan. 25 


11 


Mar.28 


1881 


1 





B 


5 


Feb. 13 


Mar. 2 


Apr.l7 


1882 


2 


11 


A 


4 


5 


Feb.22 


9 


1883 


3 


22 


G 


2 


Jan. 21 


7 


Mar.25 


1884 


4 


3 


FE 


4 


Feb.lO 


27 


Apr. 13 


1885 


5 


14 


D 


3 


1 


18 


5 


1886 


6 


25 


C 


6 


21 


Mar.lO 


25 


1887 


7 


6 


B 


4 


6 


Feb.23 


10 


1888 


8 


17 


AG 


3 


Jan. 29 


15 


1 


1889 


9 


28 


F 


5 


Feb. 17 


Mar. 6 


21 


1890 


10 


9 


E 


3 


2 


Feb.l9 


6 


1891 


11 


20 


D 


2 


Jan. 25 


11 


Mar.29 


1892 


12 


1 


CB 


5 


Feb. 14 


Mar. 2 


Apr.l7 


1893 


13 


12 


A 


3 


Jan. 29 


Feb. 15 


2 


1894 


14 


23 


G 


2 


21 


7 


Mar.25 


1895 


15 


4 


F 


4 


Feb 10 


27 


Apr. 14 


1896 


16 


15 


ED 


3 


2 


19 


5 


1897 

1 


17 


26 




r 


14 


Mar. 3 


18 



Eogation 
Sunday. 



Ascension- 
Day. 



May21 

13 

June 1 
Mayl7 



Whit- 
Sunday. 



May31 

23 

Jun.ll 
May27 

. 19 

June 8 
May30 

15 

June 4 
May27 

11 

31 

23 

Jun.l2 
May 27 

19 

June 8 
May24 

15 

June 4 
May20 
June 9 
May31 

16 

June 5 
May28 

19 

June 1 
May24 

16 

June 4 
May20 
June 9 

1 

Mayl6 
June 5 
May28 

13 

June 1 
May24 
Jun.l3 
May29 

20 

June 9 
May25 

17 

June 5 
May21 

13 

June 2 
May24 
June 6 



24 


Nov.29 


25 


28 


23 


Dec. 3 


25 


2 


26 


1 


23 


Nov.30 


24 


28 


26 


27 


24 


Dec. 3 


25 


2 


27 


Nov.30 


24 


29 


25 


28 


22 


27 


25 


Dec. 2 


26 


1 


23 


Nov.30 


25 


29 


26 


27 


24 


Dec. 3 


26 


2 


23 


1 


24 


Nov.29 


26 


28 


23 


27 


25 


Dec. 3 


26 


1 


24 


Nov.30 


25 


29 


26 


28 


24 


Dec. 3 


26 


2 


23 




24 


Nov.30 


26 


. 28 


23 


27 


25 


Dec. 3 


27 


2 


24 


Nov.30 


25 


29 


22 


28 


24 


27 


26 


Dec. 2 


23 


. 1 


25 


Nov.30 


26 


• 29 


23 


27 


26 


Dec. 3 


27 


. 2 


24 




25 


Nov.29 


23 


28 



XXXVll 



A TABLE of the MOVEABLE FEASTS according to the several 
Bays that Easter can possibly fall tqyon. 



TABLE ^o^/ic? Easter, 
from the Year 1900 
to 2199 inclusive. 




Note, that in a Bissextile or Leap Year, the number of Sundays 
after Epiphany will be the same, as if Easter-Day had fallen 
One Day later than it really does. And for the same Reason, 
One Bay must, in every Leap Year, be added to the Day of the 
Month given by the Table for Septuagesima Smiday : And the 
like must be done for the First Day of Lent Tcommonly called 
Ash- Wednesday) miless the Table gives some Day in the Month 
of March for it ; for in that Case, the Day given by the Table 
IS the right Day. 



THE Golden Numbers 
in the foregoing 
Calendar will point out 
the Days of the Paschal 
Full Moons, till the Year 
of om-Lord 1900 ; at which 
Time, in order that the 
Ecclesiastical Full Moons 
may fall nearly on the 
same Days with the real 
FuU Moons, the Golden 
Numbers must be removed 
to ditferent Days of the 
Calendar, as is done in 
the annexed Table, which 
contains so much of the 
Calendar then to be used, 
as is necessary for iinding 
the Paschal Full Moons, 
and the Feast of Faster, 
from the Year 1900, to the 
Year 2199 inclusive. This 
Table is to be made use of, 
in all respects, as the First 
Table before inserted, for 
finding Easter till the 
Year 1899. 



XXXVlll 



GENEKAL TABLES 



For finding the Dominical or Smdmj Letter, and the Places of the Golden 
Numbers in the Calendar. 



TABLE I. 


TABLE 11. 




5 

i 


4 

i 


3 


2 


1 




1 


2 


3 


1 


2 


3 


6 







Years of our 
Lord. 






Years of our 
Lord. 




B 


i 

C 


1 

^ \ 


E 


F 


G 


A 


B 

B 

B 

B 

B 

B 

B 

B 


1600 

1700 

1800 

1900 

2000 

2100 

2200 

2300 

2400 

2500 

2600 

2700 

2800 

2900 

3000 

3100 

3200 

3300 

3400 

3500 

3600 

3700 

3800 

3900 

4000 

4100 

4200 

4300 

4400 

4500 

4600 

4700 

4800 

4900 

5000 

5100 



1 

I 

2 
2 
3 
4 
3 
4 
5 
5 
5 
6 
6 
7 
7 
7 
8 
9 
8 
9 
10 
10 
10 

11 

12 
12 
12 
13 
13 
14 
14 
14 
15 
16 


B 

B 

B 

B 

B 
B 
B 
B 
B 


5200 
5300 
5400 
5500 
5600 
5700 
5800 
5900 
6000 
6100 
6200 
6300 
6400 
6500 
6600 
6700 
6800 

7000 
7100 
7200 
7300 
7400 
7500 
7600 
7700 
7800 
7900 
8000 
8100 
8200 
8300 
8400 
8500 
&c. 


15 
16 
17 
17 
17 
18 
18 
19 
19 
19 
20 
21 
20 
21 
22 
23 
22 

24 
24 
24 
25 
25 
26 
26 
26 
27 
28 
27 
28 
29 
29 
29 





1 
1 






1600 


1700 


1800 


1900 
2000 

2900 


i 1 
2100j2200 


2300 
2400 


2500 


2600 


2700 
2800 1 

1 


3000p 


3300 


3400 


3500 
3600 


1 

3700 


3800 


3900 
4000 


4100 


4200 


4300 
4400 


4500 


1 

4600 j 


4700 
4800 


4900 


5000 


5100 
5200 


5300 


5400 


5500 
5600 


5700 


5800 


5900 
600C 


6100 


6200 


6300 
6400 


6500 


660C 


6700 
6800 


690C 

1 


)7000 


710C 
720C 


7300 


7400 


750( 
760( 


770C 


780( 


.790f 
^800C 


1 

810( 


)820C 


8300 
8400 


850( 


) &c. 












npo find the Dominical or Sunday 
X Letter for any given Year of 
our Lord, add to the Year its fourth 
Part, omitting Fractions, and also 
the Number, which in Table I. 
standeth at the Top of the Column, 
wherein the Number of Hundreds 
contained in that given Year is 
found : Divide the Sum by 7, and if 
there is no Kemainder, then A is the 
Sunday Letter ; but if any Number 
remaineth, then the Letter, which 
standeth under that Number at the 
Top of the Table, is the Sunday 
Letter. 


p fpO find the Month and Days of the Month to 
JL which the Golden Numbers ought to be pre- 

! fixed in the Calendar, in any given Year of our 
Lord, consisting of entire Hunched Years, and m 

'1 all the intermediate Years betwixt that and the 

i next Hundredth Year following, look in the Second 
'} Column of Table II. for the given Year consisting 

of entire Hundi'eds, and Note the Number or 
1 Cypher which stands against it in the Third 
il Column; then, in Table III., look for the same 

ii Number in the Column under any given Golden 
i Number, which when you have found, guide your 

Eye Side-ways to the Left Hand, and in the First 
1 Column you will find the IMonth and Day to which 
that Golden Nmnber ought to be prefixed in the 
Calendar dming that Period of One Hundred Years. 

The Letter B prefixed to certain Hundredth 
Years in Table II. denotes those Years which are 
still to be accounted Bissextile or Leap- Years in the 
^ New Calendar ; whereas all the other Hundredth 
1 Years are to be accounted only common Years. 



xxxix 



TABLE III. 





Us! 


Paschal Full 




Moon. 








March 21 


C 


March 22 


D 


March 23 


E 


March 24 


r 


March 25 





THE GOLDEN NUMBERS. 



March 27 
March 28 
March 29 
March 30 



March 31 
April 1 
April 2 
April 3 
April 4 



April o 

April _ 

April 7 

April 8 

April 9 



AprH 10 
April 11 
April 12 
April 13 
April 14 



April 15 


G 


April 16 


A 


April 17 


B 


AprH 17 


B 


April 18 


C 



April 18 




^ The ORDER for MORNING and EVENING PRATER daily to he 
said and used fliroughout the Year. 

rpHE Morning and Evening Prayer shaU be used in the accnstomed 
Place of the Chui-ch, Chapel, or Ohanoel ; except it shall be other- 
wise determined by the Ordinary of the Place. And the Chaneels shall 
remain as they have done in times past. 

And here is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the Chiu-eh, and of the 
Ministers thereof, at all Times of their Ministration, shall be retained, and 
be m use, as were in this Ohm-ch of England, by the Authority of Parlia- 
ment, m the Second Year of the Eeign of King Edward the Sixth. 



xl 




m 



THE OKDEli FOR 

MORNING PRAYEE, 

DAILY THEOUGHOUT THE YEAE. 

IT At the beginning of Morning Prayer the Minister shall read with a loud 
voice some one or more of these Sentences of the Scriptures that follow. 
And then he shall say that ivhich is written after the said Sentences. 

HEN the wicked man turneth 
away from his wickedness that 
he hath committed^ and doeth 
that which is lawful and right, 
he shall save his soul alive, 
]M Ezeh xviii. 27. 

I acknowledge my transgres- 
sions, and my sin is ever before me. Psal li. 3. 

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine 
iniquities. Psal. li. 9. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a 
broken and a contrite heart, God, thou wilt not 
despise. Psal. li. 17. 

" When the wicked man;' (fee— The Liturgy, originally published by King Edward, 
began with the Lord's Prayer. It was found, however, that some introduction was 
1 B 




a 



MOENIXa PEAYEE. 



Eend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto 
the Lord your God : for he is gracious and mercifiil, slow 
to anger, and of great Idndness, and repenteth him of the 
eyil. Joel ii. 13. 

To the Lord om^ God belong mercies and forgivenesses, 
though we have rebeUed against him: neither have vre 
obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws 
which he set before us. Ban. ix. 9, 10. 

Lord, coiTect me, but with judgement ; not in thine 
anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Jer. x. 24. FsciL vi. 1. 

Eepent ye; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 
St Matth. iii. 2. 

1 will arise, and go to my father, and T^ill say unto him, 
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and 
am no more worthy to be called thy son. St Liike xv. 18, 19. 

Enter not into judgement vdth thy servant, Lord; for 
in thy sight shall no man li^mig be justified. Fsal cxliii. 2 

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and 
the truth is not in us : but, if we confess our sins, he is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness. 1 St John i. 8, 9. 

EARLY beloved brethren, the Scrip- 
ture moveth us in sundiy places to 
acknovrledge and confess our manifold 
sins and wickedness; and that we 
should not dissemble nor cloke them 
before the face of Ahnighty God our 
heavenly Father; but confess them 
with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to 

needed to the solemn exercise of devotion ; and that an appearance of hreverence attended the 
sudden and unprepared commencement of supplication. The method emplored to supply thi^ 
deficiency was the wisest that could haye been adopted. Prayer owes its etficacy to the ^race and 
mercy ot God. It must spring from a penitent, belieying, and loying spirit. Eevelation alone can 
^ve us assurance m the one case ; or exhort with sufficient authority as to the other. From the 
Book of God, therefore,, we are first adchessed when wo enter the house of prayer to seek peace 
and happniess through the Sayiour. The sentences are so selected, that we haye the testhnony 
of God s Sr mt, heard in a long seiies of ages, and under the old as well as the new dispensation 
to the glorious truth, that he de.sireth not the death of a sinner, but that he may repent and live.' 

" Dearhj beloved brethren;' d'c— As the foregoing sentences, so also were the exhortation, the 
confession, and the absolution, added to the origmal Liturgy, in the second book published by 

2 




MOENINa PEAYEE. 



the end that we may obtahi forgiveness of the same, by 
his infinite goodness and mercy. And although we ought 
at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God ; 
yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and 
meet together to render^hanks for the great benefits that 
we have received at his hands, to set forth his most 
worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask 
those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for 
the body as the soul. Wherefore 1 pray and beseech 
you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with 
a pure heart, and humble voice, unto the throne of the 
heavenly grace, saying after me ; 

% A general Confession to he said of the loliole Congregation after the Minister, 

all kneeling. 

LMIGHTY and most merciful Fa- 
ther; We have erred and strayed 
from thy ways like lost sheep. We 
have followed too much the devices 
and desires of our own hearts» We 
have offended against thy holy laws. 
I We have left undone those things 
which we ought to have done; And 
, we have done those things which we ought not to 
'^have done ; And there is no health in us. But thou, 
^ Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. 
Spare thou them, God, which confess their fauhs. 
Restore thou them that are penitent ; According to 
thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu 
f our Lord. And grant, most merciful Father, for 
his sake ; That we may hereafter live a godly, righte- 
ous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen. 

authority of Edward VI., iu the year 1552. The simple and affectionate language in which the 
minister here addresses the congregation, closely harmonizes with the scriptural tone of the whole 
service. His exhortation arises naturally out of the passages of scripture just repeated. It is, 
indeed, but an unfolding of their application to every attentive ear and humble heart. 

" Almighty and most merciful" (&c.— This is a general confession, made not in private to the 
minister, but by the whole congregation, and by the minister himself as well as by the people. Con- 
fession of sins formed a material part of the service in the primitive church ; and it is somewliat 
remarkable that provision was not made for it in the first book published by King Edward. We 

3 




MOENING PEAYER 



^ The Absolution, or Bemission of sins, to he pronounced hy the Priest alone, 
r.t^^j... ; ilie people still hieeling. 




LMIGHTY God, the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who desireth not the 
=U I ^^eath of a sinner, but rather that he 

ll * ^ i^^ay turn from his wickedness, and 

; i /# ^i^^e; and hath given power and com- 

J mandment, to His Ministers, to declare 
pronounce to his people, being 
penitent, the Absolution and Eemission of their sins : He 
pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly re]3ent, and 

may, liowever, account for its oniission fromtlie cii'cumstance, that at the time when the English 
Liturgy was first published, private confession had not fallen altogether into disuse. The opinions 
ot the reformers had yet to be settled on some points connected with the nature of confession and 
the absolvmg power ot the priest. Clearer views were possessed when they came to revise their 
work; and it was then determined, that it would be most accordant to ancient practice, and to 
the nature of pubhc worship, to begin with an open and general confession. It has been doubted 
by some learned men whether the first confession in the morning service of ancient times was 
made by the congregation sUently to themselves, or aloud. The confession, spoken of as a later 
part of the service consisted of the fifty-first psalm; called, therefore, the psalm of confession 
may hence infer, that confession of sins was considered, m early times, not only a proper 
introduction, but a most becoming conclusion to congregational worship. 

The form adopted is so simple and yet so earnest, that it would be diflScult to imagine anv 
state of mmd m which it might not be adopted. Afflicted in heart, broken in spirit, the humblest 
smner can feel that if, m sincerity, he thus acknowledges his guilt, thus confesses his utter de- 
parture from the ways of holiness, he has declared what his conscience would most ur-e him to 
express. The liappier worshippers, on the other hand, who come to the house of prayer less in 
the spirit of fear than of love, will willingly adopt every sentence of this confession- for the re- 
membrance of their past lives fui-nishes them with numberless reasons for acknowledo-ino- that 
they have erred and strayed from God s ways like lost sheep, and their humble sense of present 
mtii-mities, of then- entire dependance on divine grace for help convinces them, that without the 
presence of the Sanctificator, there is no health in them. 

The practice of public confession is as old as the establishment of the Levitical law On the 
great day of expiation, the high priest of the Jews declared, in a threefold confession, his own 
sins, the sms of his family, and of the people in general. The solemn announcement, that with- 
out shedamg of blood there is no remission, was considered, under the old dispensation, as almost 
equally applicable to the duty of confession. No sinner, it was taught, might hope for pardon 
till he freely acknowledged his transgression. ' He that covereth his sins,' says the holy Spirit 
shall not prosper ; but whoso confesseth, and forsaketh them, shall have mercy.' Prov xsviii Ls' 
In the Gospel confession is one of the chief evidences of that grace of humility, without which 
no one can enter the Mngdom of heaven. ' If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to 
torgive us our sms,' is the motto written over every altar of his iewple. 

"Almighty Gocir &c.—As there is much beauty and consistencv in the arraufrement of the 
semce, the congregation should carefully attend to the directions of the Rubric. Thus, as in the 
confession, the minister, as well as the people, bowed himself in humble reverence before God • so 
m pronouncing the absolution he stands up as representing the authority by which alone he acts. 
That a true and earnest penitence should be followed by forgiveness was the comforting assur- 
ance on which the Gospel fixed its just clahn to the gratitude of fldlen man. The declai^tion of 
this prmciple, of this inile, by which divine love and divine justice were henceforth to act in 
ofTa"'krglo.y. ^^^^^-^^^^^^-^^^ called good tidings; the revelation 

Under the Mosaic dispensation the declaration of forgiveness followed the offerino- up of the 
sacrifice, according to the requirements of the law. But as no sacrifice could be slain, except 



MOKNINa PEAYEK. 



unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel. Wherefore let us 
beseech hmi to grant us true repentance, and his holy 
Spirit, that those things may please him, which we do at 
this present; and that the rest of our life hereafter may 
be pure, and holy ; so that at the last we may come to 
his eternal joy ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

^ Tlie peoj)Ie sliall answer here, and at tlie end of all other prayers, Amen. 

f TJien the Minister shall hieel, and say tlie Lord's Prayer with an audiMe voice; the 
people also kneeling, and repeating it loith him, both here, and wheresoever else it is 
used in Divine Service. 



_ the temple and by the priest, it was through hun alone that the people received the judicial 
sent-nce of pardon and peace. Jesus Christ bestowed an authority upon his ministers at least 
equal to that conferred upon the ministers of the old covenant. In both cases ti'usts were com- 
mitted to the charge of the priest wMcli he was to administer vicarially, that is, not m his own 
name, but in the name of the Lord. In the one case, justification through the sufaciency of the 
sacrificial tyi^e was pronounced ; in the other, justification through the merits of Christ. The 
priest received the sole right of declaring that God completed the act of mercy by forgiveness and 
benediction, when the penitent had sought hun in this appointed way of grace. But in neither 
instance could the absolution be otherwise than declaratory and vicarious. It wholly depended 
upon the efficacy of the appointed sacrifice. The minister owed his authority to the same power 
as that which gave eflicacy to the sacrifice, and instituted the means of grace. Our reformers, 
"therefore, took for their guide the analogy of faith when they drew up the above form^ of absolu- 
tion. As following immediately the announcements of Scripture, and the open confession of sins, 
it supposes the faith and penitence of the assembled people. On this ground they are declared 
to be pardoned according to God's will, and the grace of the Gospel. The condition not fulfilled, 
true repentance and faith being wanting, the absolution is not applicable to their case, and they 
remain, as before it was pronounced, unpardoned and unreconciled. ' The sins,' it was said of 
old, ' that are committed against God, he alone hath power to forgive which took upon him our 
sins ; even he who sorrowed and suffered for us ; he whom the Father delivered unto death for 
our offences.' 

Amen:— The word Amen was frequently employed by our Saviom- to introduce the most 
solemn of his declarations. In these cases it intimates not only the truth, but the importance 
of the matter communicated. Its original meaning in Hebrew, whence it was adopted into the 
Greek and other languages, is true or faWiful. Thus in the original of Isaiah Ixv. 16, the 
Almighty is called the God Amen; in English the God of truth. In Eevelations iii. 14, the 
word is applied to Christ, 'These things saith the Amen; the faithful and true Witness.' In 
2 Cor. i. 20, we have, ' All the promises of God, in him are yea and in him Amen: The general 
use of this word in the first Christian assemblies is shown by the question of St. Paul, ' How 
shall he that occupietli the room of the unlearned say Amen, at thy giving of thanks ?' Among 
the Jews it had been used in giving a solemn assent to the adjuration of a judge ; ' We adjure 
thee by the Lord God of Israel, that thou hast nothing of this man's in thy hand ; and he an- 
swered, Amenr It was also the most weighty confirmation of a vow I 'Wliosoever vowed any 
holy thing, and bound it up with Amen, was tied thereby.' Lightfoot observes that in the Old 
Testament it is only used to express a wish, or a prayer ; but that our Saviour employed it in 
the way of assertion. It may be conjectured, therefore, that the latter use of it had sprimg up 
among the Jews since the writing of the Old Testament scriptures. In our Liturgy it is em- 
ployed in both senses; for when the people say Amen at the end of a prayer, it expresses their 
earnest desire that the supplication may be answered ; and when at the end of a creed, it is an 
acknowledgment of ilieir belief in the several doctrines which it propoimds. The early Christians 
pronounced this word with great earnestness and devotion. ' They raised themselves as they 
uttered it,' says one of the Fathers, 'as if they desired tiiat that word should carry up their 
bodies, as well as their souls, to heaven :' a strange contrast to the cold and negligent manner 
in which the word, so full of meaning and interest, is heard in some of our congregations. 
5 



MOENING PEAYEE. 




UE Father, which art in heaven, 
Hallowed be thy Name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy mil be 
done in earth, As it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our trespasses. 
As we forgive them that trespass 
against us. And lead us not into 
^ - temptation; But deliver us from 

eial : h or thme is the kingdom. The power, and the ^iory, 
or ever and ever. Amen. " 

IF TJien liheimse lie sliall say, 

Lord, open thou our lips. 

Answer. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise. 
Priest God, make speed to save us. 
Answer. Lord, make haste to help us. 

5r Here all standing up^ tlie Priest shall say, 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holj Ghost ; 

present at the thin f 1^ ' '^^1'""" '''■™ whatever petitions tliey would 

present at tlie tluone of grace. Passages oocm- in the wi-itings of the Fathers which rrove t »t 

of hi- „1 ™emy time» tliat the Lord s Prayer was a common form la use amonc- the Christians 

wM rifid no't nle^nd -t^r^"' d f ° » ^"^^ 

iitn th„ ! regarded as the foundation of all other prayers It entered 

pters o?Go'd^1:r °' ™^ considered a neeeCy profile 

ocuei tney olteied up their supplications in solitude 

of theseThtfroJ^r' r ''>-';-T'^"<' « P^^"" beauty and propriety in the introduction 
eoiLcienoe theT^ f ^ T* °' "'™«- ^"-^f^^^'- fi-" «'« bui-dened 

new hopes-' aM^tel \ P '''""r "'"^ "'^ ^'^^"'"^^ ^^^^ i"^P"-ecl the heart with 
new Hopes, ana m the Lord s Prayer it has appealed to the throne of grace with the mi,io-1e,l 

nawf'us to'" T-™' ':7%"----" »f fi'-l We desire n!w tL^ t Lord wSd 

?or u th IZZ T r 1 °f "^»t hasten to complete 

ioru» tne salvation of which we liave thus begun to taste the fruits 

ttoT, ;,,, to, 'd-c-In the Ancient Church the people were directed by turn « to kneel stand 
tiae, It was he inle to stand, as m remembrance of the resurrection. Our own Lituro-y requires 

mrt oJ the ferv 'V™' f °" °" restoration. We rise, therefoi;, at this 

part of the service. Tlie soul rejoices in God ; and, quickened by the o-race which has been 
sought, gives gloiy to the Father, the Sou, and the Holy Ghost 

.i-n^TtVT™''"™", T '» "^'^ of l^i^e. The doxologies 

lug to the particular nature of the prayers in which they were introduced. The earlies; known 

.6 



MOENINO PKAYEE. 




Ansiver. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever 
shall be : world without end. Amen. 
Friest. Praise ye the Lord. 
Answer, The Lord's Name be praised. 

^ TJien sliall he said or sung this Psalm folloiving : except on Easter-Day, upon which 
another Anthem is appointed; and on the NineteentJi day of every Month it is not 
to he read here, hut in the ordinary Course of the Psalms. 

Venite^ exultemiis Domino, Psal. xcv. 
sr(5^^ COME, let us sing unto the Lord : let 
us heartily rejoice in the strength of 
our salvation. 

Let us come before his presence with 
thanksgiving : and show ourselves glad 
in him with Psalms. 

For the Lord is a great God : and a 
great King above all gods. 

In his hand are all the corners of the earth : and the 
strength of the hills is his also. 

The sea is his, and he made it : and his hands prepared 
the dry land, 

was the former part of that now in use ; the latter clause, or the response, having been first 
employed, it is said, during the great Avian controversy of the fourth century: It was then also 
seen that considerable danger attended the use of some of the doxologies employed at that time. 
The Church, therefore, universally adopted the one inserted in our Liturgy ; and it has ever 
since been regarded not only as a noble expression of praise, but as a confession of belief in the 
foundation-doctrine of revealed religion. It was formerly called the lesser doxology, to distin- 
guish it from that in the Communion Service, entitled the Great Doxology, or the Hymn of the 
Angels, and the use of which is now confined to particular occasions. 

» Prcdse ye the Lord "—is the ancient hallelujah. The response was added at the last revisal 
of the Liturgy, i t • 

" come, let us sing:'— We have the testimony of the Fathers both of the Greek and Latm 
Churches to the general use of this psalm in the services of the Sunday and festival days. It 
was formerly known by the title of the Invitatory Psalm, and is said to have been sung very 
loud, that the people who were lingering outside the church might be warned against delaying 
any longer to enter. Many commentators siippose that it was used at the removal of the ark, 
and all agree that it referred especially to the times of the Messiah. St. Paul has taught us 
that, while it instructs us to glorify God in the language of tbe spirit, it conveys a warning of 
the most solemn kind. He is the Lord our God ; but harden not your hearts, as in the day of 
provocation, is an exhortation full of wisdom and of love. 

The constant use of this psalm, as introductory to those of the day, is justified by its general 
and hortatory character. It is a noble prelude, the customary notes of which awaken in tbe 
hearts of attentive worshippers all those emotions wliich give force and meaning to divine 
psalmody. The singing or repetition of psalms formed a principal part of ancient worship, and 
generally preceded the reading of the Scriptures. St. Augustine alludes especially to the 
Ninety-fifth Psalm, and says that it was read after the Epistle, and was immediately followed 
by the Gospel of the day ; but it was not particularly appointed for this purpose, the Psalms in 
general, it is stated, being intermixed with the reading of the Lessons, so as to aiFord a refresh- 
ing and profitable variety to the minds of the people. 

7 



MORNING PRAYER. 

O come, let ns worship, and fall down : and kneel before 
the Lord onr Maker. 

_ For he is the Lord our God : and we are the people of 
his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. 

To-day if ye mil hear his voice, harden not your hearts • 
as ni the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in 
the wilderness ; 

When your fathers tempted me : proved me, and saw 
my works. 

Forty years long was I grieved .vith this generation, 
and said : It is a people that do err in their hearts, for 
they have not known my ways. 

Unto whom I sware in my wrath : that they should not 
enter into my rest. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : 
world without end. Amen. 

ir Then shall foJlow tie Psalms in order as they are appointed. And at the end of 
every Psalm throughout the Tear, and like.iise at the end of Benedieite Bene'- 
dictus, Magmtieal, and Nunc dimittis, shaU he repeated. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

Answer. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever 
shall be : world mthout end. Amen. 




MOENING PKAYEE. 



% Then shall he read distinctly, icith an audible voice, the First Lesson taken out of the 
Old Testament, as is arppointed in the Ccdendar, {except there he proper Lessons 
assigned for that day :) He that readeth so standing, and turning himself, as he 
may hest he heard of all such as are present. And after thcd shall he said or sung 
in English, the Hymn called, Te Deiim Laudamiis, daily throughout the Year. 

f Note, Tliat hefore every Lesson the Minister shcdl say. Here beginnetli such a 
Cliapter, or Verse of such a Chapter of such a Book : And after every Lesson, 
Here endeth the First, or the Second Lesson. 

Te Deum Laudamus. 





E praise 
^thee, 
God : we 
ackn ow- 
ledge thee 
to be the 
Lord. 

All the earth doth worship 
thee : the Father everlasting. 

To thee aU Angels cry aloud : 
the Heavens, and aU the Powers 
therein. 

To thee Cherubin, and Seraphin : continually do cry, ; 

Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth; 

Heaven and earth are fuU of the Majesty : of thy Glory. 

" Tlien sliall he read" &c.—Th.e wisdom and piety of the Protestant Eeformers were eminently 
shown in their directions respecting the Scriptures. They desired that the doctrine which they 
preached might be submitted to the test of heavenly truth ; that the institutions which rose 
under their auspices might obtain permanency only as they appeared sanctioned by the Word of 
God. In every Protestant Church, therefore, the reading of Scripture becomes a broad and 
essential characteristic of its services. To secure to the people at large the benefit of divine 
teaching the Bible must be read publicly, and it must be read, not according to the will of in- 
dividuals, or partially, but by such a rule that the whole scheme of God's providence and the 
plan of salvation shall be laid before mankind in the language of the Holy Spirit. 

" We praise thee," &e.—It is a general tradition, that this beautiful hymn was composed by 
St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. The latter of these eminent fathers, after having been long 
bewildered by the errors of Manicheism, took up his abode at Milan, of which city the venerable 
Ambrose was then bishop. Moved by his preaching, and at length converted by his powerful 
arguments, Augustine sought baptism at his hands. Some writers report that this hymn was 
the spontaneous effusion of these holy men as they were proceeding in solemn procession to the 
font. Such a statement has nothing incredible in it. The ideas and language of the hymn must 
have been familiar to the minds of all devout believers in those days, and it was no unusual 
thing for the more distinguished ministers of the church to allow their thoughts to assume the 
lofty language here employed. But there are stronger objections to the credit of the tradition 

9 



MOENING PEAYEE. 



The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee. 

The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee. 

The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee. 

The holy Church throughout aU the world : doth ac- 
knowledge thee ; 

The Father : of an infinite Majesty ; 

Thine honourable, true, and only Son ; 

Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. 

Thou art the King of Glory : Christ. 

Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father. 

\Alien thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou 
didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. 

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death : 
thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. 

than any intrinsic improbability. It rests originally on the statement of a writer wbose authority 
is of little worth. Even those, therefore, most desirous of promoting the fame of St. Ambrose 
have given up his claim to the authorship of this hymn, which is now generally ascribed to 
Nicetus, an ecclesiastic who lived a century later than the celebrated bishop of IMilan. 

But to whomever we attribute its composition, few will dispute the appropiiateness of its in- 
troduction into the service of the church. The caution of our reformers was particularly shown in 
theii' not admitting into the Liturgy any hymn but this, and the Canticle which follows, which 
had not the seal of diviae inspiration. As many hymns were used in the ancient churches 
which had only the sanction of their holiness and beauty to justify their use, the compilers of tlie 
Prayer Book could not be charged with doing aught for which they had not the example of 
universal Christendom. But this argument is no more needed in modern times to sanction the 
use of the two uninspired hymns contained in our Liturgy, than it was in those when they first 
began to be used. At present every class of Christians claims the liberty of employing, in con- 
gregational worship, numerous uninspired hymns, and it would be well if none had been intro- 
duced which have not the characteristics of this sublime composition, rendered additionally 
sacred hj its use in the Christian church for thirteen centuries. 

The Te Deura, like the Magnificat, and other similar portions of the service, derives its name 
from the words with which it begins in the Latin original. It is worthy of observation, that the 
sublime language of this hymn is peculiarly fitted to express the feelings of those who, having 
first contemplated the ways of God, under the old covenant, are anxiously awaiting the fuller 
revelation of his love, under tlie New Testament. Thus, in the commencing verses, the power, 
majesty, and dominion of the Father, so awfully manifested in the creation, and the giving of tlie 
law, form the theme of the believer's praise. Carried forward by the spirit of the prophets, 
admitted with the enraptured Isaiah to contemplate the skirts of the divine glory, the soul rises 
in its song. Sublimer visions press around it. Heaven and earth shine resplendent with the 
fulness of the outflooding light. The innumerable hosts of created beings, characterized by 
their several powers and acts, range themselves round the altar of the Eternal— the holy church, 
tliroughout all the world, acknowledges his glory and his sovereignty. Exalted by these supreme 
contemplations, the heart reverts to its own natural state, and trembling at the awful distance at 
whicli it stands from the source of good, surveys with new thoughts the glory of divinity. The 
benignant attributes of the Son re-awaken its joy. It views the unfolded chart of redemption. 
The Holy Spirit occupies it with the heavenly benediction of its comfort ; and, subdued by the 
mingling vis^ions of the love in which the whole began, of the glory in which it shall be consum- 
mated, but also of the solemn series of sufi"erings and trials which intercept the beginning and 
the end, it concludes its song with a humble prayer for mercy, ' Lord, in thee have I trusted : le 
me never be confoimded !' 

10 



MOKNING PEAYEK. 



Thou sittest at the right hand of God : m the Glory 
of the Father. 

We beheve that thou shalt come : to be our Judge, 

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants : whom thou 
hast redeemed with thy precious blood. 

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in gloiy 
everlasting. 

O Lord, save thy people : and bless thine heritage. 
Govern them : and lift them up for ever. 
Day by day : we magnify thee ; 

And we worship thy Name : ever world without end. 
Vouchsafe, Lord : to keep us this day without sin. 
O Lord^ have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us. 
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us : as our trust is 
in thee. 

Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be con- 
founded. 

^ Or this Canticle, 

Benedicite^ omnia Opera, 

ALL ye works of the Lord, bless ye 
the Lord : praise him, and magnify 
him for ever. 

ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye 
the Lord : praise him, and magnify 
him for ever. 

ye Heavens, bless ye the Lord : 
praise him, and magnify him for ever. 

ye Waters that be above the Firmament, bless ye the 
Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever. 

O all ye Powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

ye Sun and Moon, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

" all ye worV c&c— The officiating minister is allowed to adopt the Benedicite, if he see 
fit in place of the Te Ueum. This it is considered may properly be done when the occasion, or 
the Lesson of the day, directs our particular attention to the works of God's hands. 
11 




MOENING PKAYEK. 



O ye Stars of Heayen, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

O ye Showers and Dew, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Winds of God, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Fire and Heat, bless ye the Lord : praise him 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Winter and Summer, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

ye Dews and Frosts, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Frost and Cold, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

O ye Ice and Snow, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and 
magnify him for ever. 

O ye Nights and Days, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Light and Darkness, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

^ ye Lightnings and Clouds, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

let the Earth bless the Lord : yea, let it praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

^ O ye Mountains and Hills, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

all ye. Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the 
Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever. 

^ ye Wells, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify 
him for ever. 

O ye Seas and Floods, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, 
bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for 
ever. 

^ O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 
12 



MOENIXa PEAYEK. 

all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

ye Childi-en of Men, bless ye the Lord : praise him, 
and magnify hun for ever. 

O let Israel bless the Lord : praise him, and magnify 
him for ever. 

ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise hhn, 
and magnify him for ever. 

ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise 
him, and magnify him for ever. 

ye Sphits and Souls of the Righteous, bless ye the 
Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever. 

ye holy and humble Men of heart, bless ye the Lord : 
praise him, and magnify him for ever. 

Ananias, Azarias, and ]Misael, bless ye the Lord : 
praise him, and magnify him for ever. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost : 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : 
world mthout end. Amen. 

% Then shall he read in like manner the Second Lesson, taJcen out of the New Testa- 
ment. And after that, the Eynin following ; except when that shall ^ happen to he 
read in the Chapter for the Day, or for the Gospel on St. John Baptist's Bay. 

Beneclictus. St. Luke, i. 68. 

LESSED be the Lord God of Israel : 
for he hath visited, and redeemed his 
people ; 

And hath raised up a mighly salva- 
tion for us : in the house of his servant 
David ; 

As he spake by the mouth of his 
holv Prophets : which have been since the world began ; 

" Then shall he read:' (fee— According to the nature of the several books of Scripture, and 
ancient custom, our churcli has appointed that the reading of the Old Testament should ahvays 
precede the Lessons taken from the Gospel. Xo inquirhig mind could be well satisfied were a 
different com-se pursued. 

^'Blessed he the Lordr etc.— This song of Zacharias is well adapted to foUow the reading of 
the Gospel, and it is to be regTetted that it is so generally passed over. 

13 




MOENINa PEAYEE. 



and from 



That we should be saved from om' enemies 
the hands of all that hate us ; 

To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers : and 
to remember his holy Covenant ; 

To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather 
Abraham : that he would give us ; 

That we bemg delivered out of the hand of our enemies : 
might serve him without fear ; 

In hohness and righteousness before him : all the days 
of our life. 

And thou, Child, shalt be called the Prophet of the 
Highest : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to 
prepare his ways ; 

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people : for the 
remission of their sins, 

Thi'ough the tender mercy of our God : whereby the 
Day-spring from on high hath visited us ; 

To give hght to them that sit in darkness, and in the 
shadow of death : and to guide our feet into the way of 
peace. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beguming, is now, and ever shall be : 
world without end. Amen, 

% Or this Psalm, 

Jubilate Deo. Psal. c. 

BE joyful in the Lord, all ye lands : 
serve the Lord Avith gladness, and 
before his presence with a 



come 
song. 

Be ye sure that the Lord he is 
God : it is he that hath made us, 
and not we ourselves; we are his 
people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

" he joyful;' ttc— TJiis psalm was not inserted in the first edition of the Liturgy. It affords, 
however, the means of giving some variety to the service, and is in itself admirably calculated to 
animate the heart with a thankful spirit. 
14 




MQENING PEAYEE. 



go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and 
into his courts with praise : be thankful unto him, and 
speak good of his Name. 

For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting : 
and his truth endureth from generation to generation. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

■ * * is now, and ever shall 



As it was in the beginning 
be : world without end. Amen, 

IF Then shall he sung or said th^ Apostles' Creed ly the Minister, and the People, 
standing : except only such days as the Creed of St. Athanasius is appointed to he 
read. 




BELIEVE in 
God the Father 
Ahiiighty, Ma- 
of heaven 
and earth : 
And m Jesus 



<;M ker 
.v~S"?Sp^ Christ his only 



-v-.^r«-i»,^^j.« y )isi>^ Son our Lord, 

Who was con- 
ceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of 
the Virgin Mary, Suffered under 
Pontius PUate, Was crucified, dead, 
and buried, He descended into liell; 
The third day he rose again from the 
dead; He ascended into heaven, And 
sitteth on the right hand of God the 
Father Ahnighty ; From thence he shaU 
come to judge the quick and the dead. 
1 beheve in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Cathohck 
Church ; the Communion of Saints ; The Forgiveness ot 
sins •, The Resurrection of the body, And the Life ever- 



lasting. Amen. 



" I Miever Witl> the heart man helieveth xmto rigM^™--^' ''j? XllVe'l" 

fe.sion is ralde unto salvation.' In this apostolic maxim ,Ye soe the foundation of the 

15 



MOENlNa PEAYEE. 

ir And after that, these Prayers foUomng all devoutly hieeling ; the Minister first 
p-onouncing with a loud voice, 

The Lord be you. 

Answer, And with thj spiiit. 

Minister, Let us pray. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Christy have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

caubons mqumes of acute and learned theologians have led to the conclusion thaf ft .eT 1 
to reverence rest on the conformity of its articles to the plain langua" of &^/t«^ n he 
ment respecting their truth to be found in the writings of tile fathet and on t he w 1, * 

?! ;ftt ""^ri 'r-' ™-diatei;*:eet;thS :ft7:zf- 

if not to the very period when they lived and wrote. ^ oi me Apostles , 

The circumstances which attended the increase of the Church ah^^a■^^ +1.0 t ^ ^- x 
discipline to adopt more than one form of confession Everv^sL^^^^^^^^ 

creed in such language as he deemed best suited to the wants h^ pa^c^/a^^^ bTo' 1 ' 
comparison of these- creeds, one with another, they are aU found instil i . ^ 

ofttti:t,1t^— ^^^^ 

of the Churches in different countr-ies heca,ne too numer„rf„:°th^r imlt^dfof^r 
^o„, the Creed was ™tten out ; and from the collation of the several copies thus made hat' 
cSis't:nd:m ' ' P'--* -^"^ - the ch^tf of 

the'dTr ^Bef ;°TT;"" '1°*""' '^^^ '^P^'«^ i° «f1inary services of 

lo df ^' ^ T", " *° ^^P"™"' ^^'ri™. ^oli occasions as^med 

o demand some especial declaration of a pure and orthodox faith. The daily use of iUn tTete 

^IT I' ^'"1 ^'^^ '"P°'-'-' considerations. It asslL tL fme^ucated 
.mplantmg m their minds a summary of divine truths ediibifed in their proper order a"d mnt^,.' 

union, and of their continuance in the faith as once delivered to the saints. ^ 
And after t!u,t tUse Prayer,," ie.-When the Creed has been repeated with earnest and 

h yhe: r To To^ir'''?-^-"^' ""^'-^^^ ^-'^ '^^ - spontaneous eff; on of 
r°dl,^e^t of „^°."=°°f^^;" f f ac sublime doctrines of the Creed is not only an acknow- 
ledgment of God s majes ty and goodness, but an assert ion of our own dignity and prWle Js We 
enjoy through the gift of heavenly light, the vision of those things which mly wil men of other 
days desired, but were not permitted to behold. A mingled f^eUng of thankfulness and awe 
therefore, becomes the mmd when occupied with a confession of faith. That the Lord mav 
be present among us. that the Saviour whom we have acknowledged may shed the dew of h'; 
mercy on o,^ souls, and thereby toth auickeu and estabUsh them" in the faith ; thes are 



MOENING PEAYEE. 



^ Then the Minister, ClerJcs, and People, shall say the Lord's Prayer with a loud 

voice. 




UR Father, which art in heaven. 
Hallowed be thy Name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be 
done in earth. As it is in heaven. 
m Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our trespasses. 
As we forgive them that trespass 
against us. And lead us not 
into temptation; But deliver us 
from evil. Amen, 



*S Then the Priest standing up, shall say, 



Lord, shew thy mercy upon us. 
Answer. And grant us thy salvation. 
Priest Lord, save the Queen. 

Answer, And mercifully hear us when we call upon 
thee. 

Priest Endue thy Ministers with righteousness. 
Answer. And make thy chosen people joyful. 
Priest O Lord, save thy people. 
Answer. And bless thine inheritance. 
Priest Give peace in our time, O Lord. 

desires which help us to fulfil the Apostle's saying, " With the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
ness." 

The brief exhortation, " Let us pray," is introduced, as in the old Liturgies, to excite the people 
to that fervency of spirit without which devotion languishes, and misses the blessing which it 
seeks. It is also to be observed that a division in the service is hereby pointed out, the follow- 
ing portion consisting entirely of prayer. This could not be more appropriately commenced 
than in the words dictated by the Lord himself, according to the spuit of whose teaching we 
now continue to declare our wants and desires. 

" Then the Priest standing," &o. — This rubric was not inserted till 1552 ; and appears to have 
been added in conformity with the principle, that when short supplications are offered up by the 
priest and the people together, the former is to be considered as their guide to the throne of grace. 
The petitions themselves are supposed to answer respectively to the following collects. They 
carry us, indeed, over a wide sphere of supplication, embracing the wants incident to both our 
temporal and spiritual condition. In this respect they might be considered as an accompaniment 
to the Lord's Prayer ; but they were probably inserted with no other view than that of affording 
the people a succinct form for expressing their desires, and in imitation of the short Litanies so 
common in the ancient services, 

17 D 



MOENING PEAYEB. 

Answer. Because there is none other that fighteth for 
us, but only thou, God. 

Priest. God, make clean our hearts withm us. 
A7iswer. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us. 

^ ^!zifyf?v^^^^^^ ^'^^'-^'^ fi''^ ^^^^ '"^''"^ '^'^^^ i^^^i 

llF li f Oo«.o^; the second for Peace; the third for Grace to live 

IrL i? 1 '''7^f '^^^^^ ^^'^^ '^^^ Nomina 

Flayer throughout all the year, as followeth ; all kneeling. 



The second Collect for Peace. 

GOD, who art the author of peace 
and lover of concord, in knowledge 
of whom standeth our eternal life, 
whose service is perfect freedom; 
Defend us thy humble servants in all 
assaults of our enemies ; that we, 
surely trusting in thy defence, may 
not fear the power of any adversaries, 
through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 




Then shall follow three Collects," &c.~The word collect means a collection, and has been 
adopted, It IS supposed, as the title of the short prayers to which it is appended, either because they 
combme m one petitions for many various blessings ; or because they were substantially collected 
out of the portions of Scripture by which they are accompanied ; or because used chiefly when the 
people were gathered together. Most of these valuable aids to the devotion of the Church have 
been handed down from very remote days. Pope Gelasius, who lived in the fifth century, and 
his deseiwedly celebrated successor Gregory the Great, contributed largely to their numbei' But 
the spmtual feelmg by which they are distinguished, the simple, energetic character of the 
language, may fairly lead to the conclusion that they have been, for the most part, derived from 
a period still more ancient and apostolic. It would be difficult to find any selection of prayers more 
admirably adapted to the pm-poses for which they are used. The portions of Scripture set apart 
for the day awaken the spirit oi supplication, and the collect furnishes the pure unaffected lan- 
guage which best expresses the sentiment tlms excited. As the seasons carry us throu-h the 
circle of divme mysteries, so the coUects assist the soul in framing the prayer which befits^every 
penod of grace. The Christian would do well if he employed them not only in public but in 
private exercises of devotion, whenever he seeks a particular blessing on the reading of Scripture 
Collect for Peace. -The peace spoken of in the Gospel, and asked for in this prayer, is that 
comprehensive gift and grace of God promised by Jesus Christ to his disciples, ahl descAbed by 
nfZZl' i^^' ""i f,^ ^f^P^^rienced its eftects as passing all understanding. God is the author 
of peace, Ihe unchangeable foundation of goodness, truth, and happiness. In the knowledge of 
Hun we fiud that security for our being and our hopes, which effectually expels the harassino- 
doubts and fears which must otherwise afflict us. " Wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is 
liberty : remembering this Apostolic maxim, we gladly acknowledge that his service is perfect 
freedom : and m this confidence of faith entreat him to afford us that defence which shall enable 
to excaim If the Lord be with us, who can be against us ?" This collect is translated from 
tlie bacrameutary of Pope Gregory. 

18 



MOENING PEAYEE. 




The third Collect., for Grace. 

LORD, our heavenly Father, Almighty 
and everlasting God, who hast safely 
brought us to the beginning of this 
day; Defend us in the same with thy 
mighty power ; and grant that this day 
we fall into no sin, neither run into 
any kind of danger; but that all our 
doings may be ordered by thy govern- 
ance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight : through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 

^ In Quires and Places where they sing, here foUoiveth the Anthem. 

% Then these five Prayers following are to he read here, except iuhen the Litany is 
read ; and then only the two last are to he read, as they are there placed. 

A Prayer for the Queens Majesty. 

LORD our heavenly Father, high 
and mighty. King of kings, Lord ol 
lords, the only ruler of princes, who 
dost from thy throne behold all the 
dwellers upon earth; Most heartily 
we beseech thee with thy favour to 
behold our most gracious Sovereign 

" Collect /or G^race."— Grace is a term employed in Scripture to express the manifold mercy of 
God, whicli, ever sufficient for its object, displays its power in an infinite variety of opei-ations. 
Sometimes it is seen manifesting its strength in the support or deliverance of individuals ; at 
others in the conversion of nations. Sometimes in the fulness of temporal blessings : at others in 
the outpouring of those heavenly helps which seal the soul with salvation. In this collect we pray 
that God's grace, or favour, may be exercised in our safe preservation through the day ; and that, 
the same divine power continuing to exercise itself in our behalf, we may ever be able to do what 
is pure and righteous ; an effect of God's help so important above all others, that the influence by 
which it is produced has in every age of the Church been eminently characterized as grace. This 
prayer is taken from one of the most ancient of the Greek Liturgies. 

" The ^Ki?iem."— Great attention was paid by the compilers of our Liturgy to the securing of a 
due and wholesome variety in the service. Unfortunately their pious endeavours were soon after 
rendered abortive by the negligence of churchmen, who seemed to forget entirely the plan and 
spirit of the institution which it was then: duty to uphold. Thus the cheering melodies of the 
primitive Church were silenced ; congregations began to forget the share which they ought to 
take in the service, and the Liturgy, so powerful and awakening in all its parts, when properly 
understood, has excited a thousand objections, on the side of gainsayers, because of its supposed 
tediousness, and length. Let psalmody resume its proper place, and be conducted with due 
attention, and these objections will soon cease to be heard. 

Prayer for the Qween."— This prayer was not added till the revision of the service m the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. The duty of praying for kings and those in authority was recognized even 

19 




MOENING PEAYEE. 



Lady, Queen VICTORIA; and so replenish her mth 
the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that she may alway incline 
to thy will, and waU. in thy way: Endue her plenteously 
mth heavenly gifts; grant her in health and wealth long 
to live; strengthen her that she may vanquish and over- 
come aU her enemies; and finaUy, after this life, she 
may attam everlasting joy and fehcity; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Ameri. 



thine 
Lord. 



A Prayer for the Royal Family. 

LMIGHTY God, the fountahi of all 
goodness, we humbly beseech thee to 
bless Albert Edward Prince of Wales, 
the Princess of Wales, and all the 
Royal Family : Endue them with thy 
holy Spirit; enrich them with thy 
heavenly grace; prosper them with 
all happiness; and bring them to 
everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our 
Amen. 




w-lT^ ^'^"''^ ^^^""^ ""^^ only prayers but sacrifices were offered up for tlieir rulers 

With tbe Jews this practice was followed as one of the fii-st of a people's duties. Both reason and 
Chris lamty confirm it by their sanctions. God's help and blessing wanting, the power of hinc^s 
IS little likely to be exercised for tlie good of their people, who, when they refuse or neo-lect to ai 
divme aid m this respect, may ascribe the greater part of tlie evils which they suffer to their own 
want of holiness or faith in the promises of God. The prayer before us is after the model of those 
allusion to which is frequent in ancient writers. Many of the Fathers tell us, that supplications 
were made by day and by night for the peace and safety of princes : that in these prayers God 
was entreated to give them victory over their enemies ; and that the constant custom of the church 
m this respect, proved how willing and loyal an obedience Christians ever rendered to the proper 
authorities of the state. The prayer here introduced omits no petition which the Gospel allows 
or instructs us to offer up for our ruler. It teaches a nation to look to the Holy Spirit as the sole' 
source of the wisdom which can render kings sufiicient for their duties. Rismg above the flatteries 
of courts and the sophistry of politicians, it directs us to pray that our monarch may be adorned 
with the substantial glories of heavenly-mindedness ; and then, but not till after these blessin-s 
have been devoutly implored, it shows us how we ought to seek for him, as the righteous head of 
a Christian people, prosperity in this world, and joy and fehcitv in the next 

Prayer for the Royal i^am%."-Like the last, this prayer wa; not in the original edition of the 
Liturgy,, but was added at the revision which took place m the reign of King James I The 
example of former times has been cited to show the propriety of the addition ; which would pro- 
bably have been earlier made had not the preceding sovereigns died mthout issue. A slfc^ht 
alteration was made in the commencement of the prayer at the suggestion of theHi-h Church 
party, towards the middle of the seventeenth century, the original havmg been " Almighty God 
which hast promised to be a Father of thine elect and of their seed," which, it is supposed was 
rejected because of the doctrinal tone of the expression 
20 



MOENING PEAYEK. 



A Prayer for the Clergy and People. 

LMIGHTY and eA-erlasting God, who 
alone workest great marvels; Send 
down npon our Bishops and Curates, 
and all Congregations committed to 
their charge, the healthful Spirit of 
thy grace; and that they may truly 
please thee, pour upon them the con- 
tinual dew of thy blessing. Grant 
this, Lord, for the honour of oiu' Advocate ancl Mediator, 
Jesus Christ. Amen. 

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom. 

LMIGHTY God, who hast given us 
grace at this time with one accord 
to make our common supplications 
unto thee; and dost promise, that 
when two or three are gathered to- 
gether in thy Name thou wilt grant 
their requests: Fulfil now, Lord, 
the desires and petitions of thy ser- 
vants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us 
in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world 
to come life everlasting. Amen. 

" Prayer for the Clergy:'— This prayer was among tlie additions made in the time of Queen 
Elizabeth. The expression, " workest great marvels," refers to the giving of the Holy Spirit, and 
that effectual blessing on the labours of the Church and its Ministers whereby alone they may hope 
for success in their work. Bishops and curates form the two gi-eat classes of the clergy ; the former 
beiug the chief shepherds and superintendents of the flock of Christ, the latter comprehending all 
those who, whatever their appoiutments, are occupied in watching over the daily state of the 
people, and providing for the nourishment of their souls. There is great beauty and pathos in ^ 
this prayer, which was adopted into our Liturgy out of the Sacramentary of Gregory. The clergy ' 
could scarcely fail to labour in the spirit of holiness if the people would ardently and perseveringly 
use these supplications on their behalf. 

" Prayer of St. Chrysostom:'— The celebrated Father whose name is appended to this prayer 
was patriarch of Constantinople in the fourth century. He enjoyed equal fame for his piety and 
his eloquence. By him the Greek Church was long preserved against the inroads of false doctrine ; 
and the public services received not less advantage from his devotional fervour than did theology 
from his great learning and industry. The care and Catholic spirit of om- Reformers are proved 
in an interesting manner by their having thus selected the prayers of the Church from such wide 
and various sources. 

21 





MOENING PEAYEE. 




2 Cor. xiii. 

HE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the fellow- 
ship of the Holy Ghost, be with us 
all evermore. Amen, 



m 



ere endeth tJie Order of Morning Prayer 
througJwut the Year. 



ble..^!t n™^; V '"PP'f-""'" by all the congregation, and not merely a 

not 1 ?A ^ '^«°»™i"g » impressive elose to the service could 

nnon', s in p„„ f S ^''"^ '"^""^'^ evangencal blessing ; the love of God flows 

rHolv "oiri cr"'\f "»V^T™'""° "''""^^ ^"'^ t''^ constant presence and fellowship o 
mc ±101} t?pint crowns the work of mercy and glory. 




iHl 



THE ORDER FOR 

EVENING PRAYEE, I 

DAILY THEOUGHOUT THE YEAE. 




^ At the beginning of Evening Prayer, the 3Iinister shall read loitJi a loud 
voice some one or more of these Sentences of the Scriptures that follow. 
And then he shcdl say that ivhich is written after the said, Sentences. 

HEN the wicked man tarneth 
away from his wickedness that 
he hath committed, and doeth 
that which is lawful and right, 
he shall save his soul alive. 
Ezeh xviii. 27. 

I acknowledge my transgres- 
ever before me. Psal. li. 3. 

and blot out all 




sms 



sions, and my sin is 

Hide thy face from my 
mine iniquities. Psal. li. 9. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a 

" Evening Service.'"— The Christian system providing means for the sanctifying of 
the human character, demands of mankind the general consecrating of time to the 
service of God. Our Church, following the example of antiquity, willingly yields her- 
self to this ordinance of nature and religion. The morning brings with it the recol- 

23 



EVENING PRAYER. 

broken nnd a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 
Psal. li. 17. 

llend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto 
the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow 
to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the 
evil. Joel a. 13. 

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, 
tliongli we have rebelled against him : neither have we 
(Obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws 
which he set before us. Dan. ix. 9, 10. 

Lord, correct me, but with judgment ; not in thine 
anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Jer. x. 24. Fsal. 
vi. 1. 

Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. St. 
Matth. iii. 2. 

1 will arise, and go to my father, and will say unto him, 
leather, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 
and am no more worthy to be called thy son. St. Luke xv. 
18, 19. 

Enter not into judgment with thy servant, Lord • 
cxiiii''2 ''^^^ '^""'^ """^ ^'^'^^ justified. Psal. 

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves 
and the trnth is not in us: but, if we confess our sins, he 
IS feithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
us trom all unrighteousness. 1 St. John i. 8, 9. 

devotion" In the div L ^ 4 tuteT t^^^^^ --.^in the exercise, of a pure andsober 

sacriBce and it. peculiar piytt^^ t ^"^ its 

rable customs xvLir^co -rnted h t to Chnstianity readily followed the vene- 

the progress of fte GoTnel 3 "-l"" "f patriarchal sanctity. In 

tl.eir p^fessio; In 1 th^fr • tntrce^ " ™ ^'^^ 

persecution, afforded tlt^m ZTot mot, J % f T™'"''' '^"""^ P''"'™'' t"»^« 

and evening serrio s- Vori l W^^^^^^^ 

nature and the sadder inC L oruCrue^rf't: iT "\ t " ' 

a close « ithcut leaving some injury to rcZ „t 1; , T1 " "° ''"^ ''^^'^ 

for, or cornipHons to he cleansed Hen^ft ' S'f ^e regained, offences to be answered 

thebegi„ni:^or.he„,ornirstvicfaTtVe:r„?^^^^ 



EYENINa PKAYEK. 



EARLY beloved brethren, the Scrip- 
ture moveth us in sundry places to 
acknowledge and confess our mani- 
fold sins and wickedness; and that 
w^e should not dissemble nor cloke 
them before the face of Almighty 
God our heavenly Father ; but con- 
fess them with an humble, lowly, 
penitent, and obedient heart ; to the end that we may 
obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness 
and mercy. And although we ought at all times humbly 
to acknowledge our sins before God ; yet ought we most 
chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to 
render thanks for the great benefits that we have received 
at his hands,* to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear 
his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are 
requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. 
Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here 
present, to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble 
voice, unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after 
me ; 




% A general Confession to he said of the ivJiole Congregation after the Minister, 

all kneeling. 




LMIGHTY and most merciful Fa- 
ther ; We have erred, and strayed 
from thy ways like lost sheep. We 
have followed too much the devices 
and desires of our own hearts. We 
have offended against thy holy laws. 
We have left undone those things 
which we ought to have done; And 
^ we have done those things which we ought not to have 
§ done ; And there is no health in us. But thou, Lord, 
If have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou 
them, God, which confess their faults. Restore thou 
25 E 



EYENma PEAYEK. 




them that are penitent; Accordmg to thv promises de- 
clared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And 
grant, most merciful Father, for his sake; That we 
may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To 
the glory of thy holy Name. Amen, 

f Tlie Absolution, or Bemission of Sins, to he p-onounced hij the Priest alone, 
standing ; the People still kneeling. 

LMIGHTY God, the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who desireth not 
the death of a smner, but rather 
that he may turn from his mcked- 
ness, and live ; and hath given power, 
and commandment, to *his Ministers, 
to declare and pronounce to his 
people, being penitent, the Absolu- 
tion and Eemission of their sins: He pardoneth and 
absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly 
believe his holy Gospel. Wherefore let us beseech him 
to grant us true repentance, and his holy Spirit, that 
those things may please him, which we do at this present ; 
and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure, and 
holy : so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 

% Then the Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer ; the People also 
kneeling, and repeating it with him. 

" Note totlie AhBohiUonr-.l<Jext in value to the inestimable blessing of » a conscience void of 
oflence, is that of the peace which follows the contrite acknowledgment of sin under the softening 
influences of divme grace. To resign ourselves to night, sleep, and helplessness, with God's an-er 
ZZ H , '^"^"^ '^^^ obduracy. But if after an honest ex- 

ammation of ourselves we have come to the conclusion that we justly merit punishment ; that it 
s impossible to say how long it may be withheld ; and that there can be no escape unless thi-ouo-h 
mercy of God promised to sincere penitents, then how comforting to us must be the announce- 
ment m th,3 form of absolution : how soothing to the afflicted heart the assurance, that the ' 
Father of mercies hath, for the sake of Jesus Christ, granted it the remission of sins, and restored 
It to the adoption of sons. Besides the positive advance in spiritual strength thus obtained, there 
are many o her attendant blessings which we should most naturally seek for at the close of day 
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him," and in the happy convic- 
tion of the dmne presence, the darkness of night « becomoth no darkness at allr 

26 



EYENINa PEAYEK. 




UE Father, which art in hea- 
ven; Hallowed be thy Name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will 
be done in earth, As it is in 
heaven. Give ns this day onr 
daily bread. And forgive us 
om^ trespasses, As v\^e forgive 
them that trespass against us. 
And lead us not into tempta- 
tion; But deliver us from evil: 
For thme is the Idngdom, The power, and the glory, For 
ever and ever. Amen. 

% Then likewise he shall say, 

O Lord, open thou our lips. 

Answer. And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 
Priest God, make speed to save us. 
Answer. Lord, make haste to help us. 

5r Sere all standing up, the Priest shall say, 

Gloiy be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

Ansicer. As it was in the beginning, is novr, and ever 
shall be : world without end. Amen. 
Priest. Praise ye the Lord. 
Answer. The Lord's Name be praised. 





EVENING PEAYEE. 



1( Then s/iaU he said or sung the Psalms in order as they are ajjpoiuied. Then a Lessen 
of the Old Testament, as is appointed. And after that, MagDificat {or the Song of 
the hh'sscd Virgin Mary) in English, as folloicefh. 



Magnificat St. Luke i. 




Y soul doth magnity the Lord : and my 
spirit hatli rejoiced in God my Saviour. 

For he hath regarded : the lowhness 
of his hand-maiden. 

For behold, from henceforth : all 
% generations shall call me blessed. 

For he that is mighty hath magnified 
me : and holy is his Name. 
I And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout 
AI all generations. 

" Tlien shall he said or sung tlie Psalmsr dr.-Tlie 94tli Psalm is not inserted in this part of 
the service, its use being appropriate only to the commencement of the day's devotions This 
was he case with the 63rd Psalm, in the early Liturgies, the place of which was supplied bv the 
141st for evening prayer. No introductory psalm is employed in our evening service but the 
preceding sentences, and " the glory " may be considered as supplying the necessary exhortations 

^ir rr;l-!?h 1 '""T" 1 7 ! P'"^^^^ ^-^^^^^g Scripture, are properlv regarded by 

our Chuich as essential to its services. They formed, in early times, the ground-wo^k and sinews 
of public prayer; and as a portion of our evening Liturgy atFord the mind a deep foundation of 
lioly thou.glit, a nch treasury of sublime meditation, out of which the greatest of intellects, tbe 
mosl afflicted or the tenderest hearts, may rejoice to draw the nourishment of everlasting hope 
hote to the Mao^vficat.-The Holy Spirit, when inspiring the servants of God with the languao-; 
of zeal and love, did not intend to confine the blessing to those who first received the dft but 
instructed them m the use of terms which, unfolded by his fm-ther gifts of grace and light, 



EYENINa PEAYEK. 



He hath shewed strength A^ith his arm : he hath scat- 
tered the proud m the miagination of theh hearts. 

He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath 
exahed the humble and meek. 

He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the 
rich he hath sent empty away. 

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant 
Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham, and 
his seed, for ever. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 

Holy Ghost ; 

As it w as in the beginning, is now, and ever shaU be : 
world without end. Amen. 

% Or else this Psalm ; except it he on the Nineteenth Bay of the Month, wlien it is read 
in the ordinary course of the Psalms. 

Can tale Domino, Psal. xcviii. 

SING unto the Lord a new song : 
for he hath done marveUous things. 

With his own right hand, and with 
his holy arm : hath he gotten himself 
the victory. 

The Lord declared his salvation : 
his righteousness hath he openly 
shewed in the sight of the heathen. 
He hath remembered his mercy and truth toward the 
house of Israel : and all the ends of the world have seen 
the salvation of our God. 




convev wisdom and consolation to the Church throughout all ages. Thus the Magniflcat, as 
it is called from the fii'st word in the Latin version, has been adopted into our Litiu'gy on 
account of its general appropriateness as a hymn of praise. It was thus employed in the primitive 
Church ; and, repeated with becoming thoughtfulness, is admirably calculated to express the 
feeliuss which accompany the earnest reading of the word of God. The Old Testament testifies 
throughout of the mystery of Christ's incarnation. In the fulfilment of its prophecies respecting 
this mvstery the believer finds his peace and joy ; and the first sentiment which awakens in his 
heart is poured gladly forth when he says, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
rejoiced in God my Saviour." 

In order to afford variety, should occasion require it, the 98th Psalm was inserted in the second 
book of King Edward. The whole structui-e of this beautiful song points it out as fit to be used 
at any period of great triumph and rejoicing ; or when the preceding lesson has contained the 
narrative of some special interference on the part of God for the safety of his people. 

29 



EVENING PRAYER. 



Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands : 
suig, rejoice, and give thanks. 

Praise the Lord upon the harp : sing to the harp with 
a psalm ot thanksgiA-ing. 

_ With trumpets also and shawms : shew yourselves 
joyful before the Lord the Iflng. 

Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is : the 
round world, and they that dwell therein. 

Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be ioyful 
together before the Lord : for he cometh to judge the earth 

\\ ith righteousness shaU he judge the world : and the 
people with equity. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : 
world without end. Amen. 

IT nen a Lesson of the New Testament, as it is appointed. And afte,- that Nunc 
Dimittis (or the Song o/Symeon) in English, as folloLth. ' 

Nunc Dimittis. St. Luke ii. 29. 

ORD, now lettest thou thy servant 
depart in peace : according to thy 
word. 

For mine eyes have seen : thy 
salvation. 

Which thou hast prepared : before 
the face of all people ; 

SiZr^ SltirvtL"; aboT T '"^^ ~ of Song of 

to tbe wantfof trcw^^^^^ made ■•espectag the general application of these inspired hymns 
.vears of watcWnl r .a^rj^' "^^^ be repeated m this instance. Simeon rejoiced, after many 

Ws people, and of SSndfn :r' "f K™^ n " ^'•"^'^'^ -l^"™'-- °f 

staff of Mssnah toZp rt b L° T ,f ' 7f now depart in peace, for he knew that with the 

How much more eSntt^aJtW uttef tf " ",""^1; 

Christ over sin and deatl and ZJ., tl^ese words, who see in the Gospel the victory of 
ye believe in C«d b uC J ^n me'' 7" '""^^^ " Let not yonr hearts be troubled : 

prepare a place for 'you andlf I "o Tav l"wm c! " ' "^"^ ^ S° 

where I am, there ye may be also' ^"^ ™*° "'J'^'^lf- f^'^' 

tin,es, when the wav^^f^o d sl^H I """1 ""'""^ meditating on those 

wav f,o,l .shall be known upon earth, and his .saving health among all nations." 




EVENING PEAYEPv. 

To be a light to hghten the Gentiles : and to be the 
glory of thy people Israel. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : 
world without end. Amen. 

•^T Or else this Psalm; except it he on the Twelfth Bay oftlie Month 

Deus misereatur. Psal. Ixvii. 

OD be merciful unto us, and bless 
us : and shew us the light of his 
countenance, and be merciful unto 
us : 

That thy way may be known upon 
earth : thy saving health among all 
nations. 

Let the people praise thee, God : yea, let all the 
people praise thee. 

let the nations rejoice and be glad : for thou shalt 
judge the folk righteously, and govern the nations upon 
earth. 

Let the people praise thee, God : yea, let all the 
people praise thee. 

Then shall the earth bring forth her increase : and God, 
even our own God, shall give us his blessing. 

God shall bless us : and all the ends of the world shall 
fear him. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : 
world without end. Amen. 

^ Then shall he said or sung the Apostles' Creed, hy the Minister and the People, 

standing. 




31 



EVENING PRAYER. 




BELIEVE 

in God 
the Father 
Almightj, 
Maker of 
heaven and 
earth : 

And in Jesus Christ his 
only Son our Lord, Who was 
conceived bvthe Holv Ghost, 
Born of the Virgin ]\Jary, Suf- 
fered under Pontius Pilate, 
Was crucified, dead, and bu- 

^1 , ™d. He descended into hell : 

ihe thu'd day he rose again from the dead. He ascended 
into heaven. And sitteth on the right hand of God the 
i^^ather Almighty; From thence he shall come to iudo^e 
the quick and the dead. ^ 

''A Tl^^ ^'^^^ Cathohck 

Church ; The Communion of Saints ; The Forgiveness of 
sms ; The ResmTection of the boclv, And the life everlast- 
ing. Amen. 



II And after that, these Prayers following, all devoutly Jcneeling ; the Minister fnst 
pronouncing with a loud voice, 

ful mind witirpeou iai feelir n •„^"* ""^'T considerations which will impress a thonght- 

confidence. Kigbt and deep are embTe;,/rf \h " tcaclimgs we now again declare our 

of our hopes: and on the poTnt as U " " of t 1"' *° "^^ '''''^ 

the most consolatory of duties s thl «newal fa h™ ™ -fr"^' 

paternity and lore of God. The sufterint If , ^"f"-^^' a saving efflcaer, the 

the forgiveness of sins. In i^^^liXCL^Gi:::: ^^ "^l ^^"^"^^ 

cation ; in that of a Church, or comMuniroFsiinfa theT. T?'" f 

prayers and blessings of the -^reat body of V'l rkt ? assurance that we have the faith, the 

the resurrection of the dead.tnd I.fe eve I-Wb t '° "'"'"''^ ' °f 

worthily occupy the n,i„d. o; " the aff:ot,?;3'" ~ ^" '""^ f^-^^-S^ -hich can 

32 ■ 



EVENING PEAYEK. 

The Lord be with you. 
Answer. And with thy spirit. 

Minister. Let us pray. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Christy have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

IF Then the Minister, Clerics, and peojple, shall say the Lord's Frayer with a loud voice. 

UR Father, which art in hea- 
ven. Hallowed be thy Name. 
Thy kingxlom come. Thy will be 
done in earth, As it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our trespasses. 
As we forgive them that trespass 
against us. And lead us not into 
temptation ; But dehver us from 
evil. Amen. 




^ Then the Priest standing up shall say, 



O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us ; 
Answer. And grant us thy salvation. 

" The Lord's Prayer:— At whatever period we are called upon to unite in offering- up this 
prayer, its fulness and simplicity teacli us to feel that it is adapted, above all others, to the 
expression of spiritual sentiment. What can be more comforting to the heart, in the service of 
the evening, than the assurance of God's fatherly love? Or what more becoming the soul 
than an exalted desire that the discovered vanities and corruption of the world may speeddy 
give way to the glory of his kingdom, and the peace and happiness consequent on the establish- 
ment of his laws? Our trespasses have been multiphed ; we feel our sinfulness and our danger. 
What can we desire more than forgiveness ; or how can we look for pardon if we let the sun 
go down upon wrath cherished in our hearts against our fellow-men ? The night is not without 
its dangers for the soul. Let no thought or spirit of evil come near us, is a petition then well 
fitted to the hour ; and we again sum up our supplications by an acknowledgment, that what- 
ever good has been already enjoyed, or can now be looked for, must be regarded as the gift of 
Him who ruleth over all, and whose glory is without end or limit. 

The words, 'For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,' are not repeated at the end 
of the Lord's Prayer as given in the Gospel of St. Luke. This may be accounted for on the sup- 
position, that the heavenly Author intended the prayer to be used on occasions when the addition 
of the glory would not be equally appropriate. But whatever be the decision of Commentators 
on this point, the Fathers of our Church have followed the guidance of the written word. Adopt- 
ing the prayer, in its complete form, at the commencement of the service, they have inserted it, 
without the doxology, in tliose places where it succeeds many parts of the service which ascribe 
glory to the eternal Father. 

33 ^ . ^ 



EVENING PKAYEE. 



Priest Lord, save the Queen. 

Amwer. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee. 
Priest Endue thy Ministers with righteousness. 
Answer, And make thy chosen people joyful. 
Priest, Lord, save thy people. 
Ansiver, And bless thine inheritance. 
Priest Give peace in our time, Lord. 
Amwer. Because there is none other that fighteth for 
us, but only thou, God. 

Priest God, make clean our hearts within us. 
Answer. And take not thy holy Spirit from us. 



IF Tlien sliall follow three Collects; tlie first of the Bay ; tJie second for Peace; the 
third for Aid against all Perils, as hereafter foUoweth : which two last Collects 'shall 
he daily said at Evening Prayer imthout alteration. 



The second Collect at Evening Prayer, 



GOD, from whom all holy desires, 
all good counsels, and all just works 
do proceed ; Give unto thy servants 
that peace which the world cannot 
give; that both our hearts may be 
set to obey thy commandments, and 
also that by thee we being defended 
from the fear of our enemies may 
pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits 
of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. 




''Second Collecf'—TMs collect, like that in the corresponding part of the morning service, is 
also a prayer for peace, and was taken out of the Sacramentary of Gregoiy. In that for the 
morning, the chief object of desire is protection through those struggles which await us from 
enemies without. We pray that He who is tlie author of peace and lover of concord may 
so order the affairs of the world, and temper the power of all our adversaries therein, that the 
events of our hves may leave us uninjured and uncorrupted. Now we pray that the enemy of 
souls may be kept from us ; that our inward thoughts and purposes and counsels may be infected 
with no tamt of evil. « I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy 
law. ' " Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I miglit meditate in thy word," and " Great 
peace have they which love thy law ; and nothing sliall offend them." This is the language of 
God's people. They rest in the conviction that holiness of heart and spirit is the best and surest 
of all the sources of tranquillity. 

34 



EVENING PEAYEK. 



The third Collect^ for Aid against all Perils. 




IGHTEN 
onr dark- 
ness, we be- 
X seecli tliee, 
/ O Lord; 
and by thy 
greatmercy 
defend us from all perils and 
dangers of this night; for the 
love of thy only Son, our Savi- 
our, Jesus Christ. Amen. 



In Quires and Places wliere they sing, 
here foUoiveth the Anthem. 




A Prayer for the Queens Majesty. 

LORD our heavenly Father, high 
and mighty, King of kings. Lord of 
lords, the only Ruler of princes, who 
dost from thy throne behold all the 
dAvellers upon earth ; Most heartily 
we beseech thee vdth thy favour to 
behold our most gracious Sovereign 
Lady, Queen VICTORIA ; and so 
replenish her with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that she 

« TIM CoZ?ec^."-HaviDg besought the blessing of peace, as resulting from inward purity we 
ask in this collect for protection against the ordinary dangers of the night season. A spiritual 
mind will naturally blend the thoughts of temporal perils with those of the soul, and the en- 
lichtenino- of the darkness of the night will excite profounder anxieties for the illummation ot 
the divine presence. But the collect is, strictly considered, a prayer for defence and safety, and 
when used with faith, expresses very beautifully our filial recognition of God's constant care for 
his children, and abilitv to protect them. Like the third collect in the mornmg service, it is 
taken from one of the ancient Greek Liturgies, and originally formed the conclusion of t.:e 
service, the other prayers, in both instances, having been subsequently added. 

Prayer for the Queenr &c. c&c.— The following prayers are the same as those in the morning 
service, and are rightly introduced on the noble and evangelical principle, that "love is the ful- 

35 



EVENING PEAYER. 

may alway incline to thy mil, and walk in thy way : 
Endue her plenteonsly mth heavenly gifts ; grant her in 
health and wealth long to live ; strengthen her that she 
may vanquish and overcome all her enemies ; and finally, 
after this life, she may attain everlasting joy and felicity; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 



A Prayer for the Royal Family, 



LMIGHTY God, the fountain of 
all goodness, we humbly beseech 
thee to bless Albert Edward Prince of 
JVales^ the Princess of WaleSj and all 
the Eoyal Family: Endue them with 
thy holy Spirit ; enrich them with thy 
heavenly grace ; prosper them with all 
happiness ; and bring them to thine 
everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 




mg. 
cate 



A Prayer for the Clergy and people. 

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
who alone workest great marvels ; 
Send down upon our Bishops, and 
Curates, and all Congregations com- 
mitted to their charge, the healthful 
Spirit of thy grace; and that they 
may truly please thee, pour upon 
them the continual dew of thy bless- 
Grant this, Lord, for the honour of our Advo- 
and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen. 




filling of the law," and that " supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, should 
be made for all men." We conclude, therefore, the public devotions of the dav with sentiments 
in the highest degree acceptable to God, and useful to the world. Our prayers for others ac- 
cepted at the throne of gi-ace, and with the fulness of divine peace in our hearts, we may well 
rejoice in having been admitted to the courts of the Lord's house, there to join our prayers with 
those of the faithful upon whom his grace and blessing shall rest for evermore 
86 



EVENING PEAYEE. 

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom. 

LMIGHTY God, who lias given us 
grace at this time with one accord to 
make our common suppUcations unto 
thee; and dost promise, that when 
two or three are gathered together in 
thy Name thou wilt grant their re- 
quests : Fulfil now, Lord, the 
desires and petitions of thy servants, 
as maybe most expedient for them; granting us in this 
world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come 
life everlasting. Amen. 

2 Cor. xiii. 

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us 
all evermore. Amen. 

Here endeth the Order of Evening Prayer throughout the Year. 




37 




AT MORNING PRAYER. 



Quicunque vult 

HOSOEVER will be saved : before 
all things it is necessary that he hold 
the Catholick Faith. 

T\^ich Faith except every one do 
keep whole and undefiled : without 
doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 
And the Cathohck Faith is this : 

^1 r \ ^^^^ worship one God in Trinity, 

B and Trinity m Unity ; ' 

|| Neither confounding the Persons : nor dividing the 
^^feubstance. ^ 

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the 




Son : and another of the Holj Ghost. 



fte title , t ch U be'^^T^ ItprohablyaequiS 
the Ca hnli. ri , , expressiag the opinions of Athanasius, and tlie great body of 

aS^r of the Creed a"' 7' ^''"'^ Athanados was reali; the 

bu both sfus nd Quesnl .m' 7 '^7™!',-'' '"'^ ^---d candid BellarLn 
the foreign d ues Pari™ d du P ^ b f, , f ''"d 
in the Church till the Ze ^^^^^^^^ 'o P™™*''"* it was not known 

B!«I,n„ V 1 n,, <=™t"'7. and that it was written in Latin by tlie African 

ftt t hat f " 1° tl^*" P^ioi rendered probable b he 

lid'd b tb^hSr:ro^^S^^nVf ''^ .-test persecution at the handle Arit*^ 
it. professors with &e and f" -l I ""^r™'''; "f "PP""^"*'' Catholic faith pursued 

not rest on a rlk wh ch eaHever be f f -"7 --'ige of true behef did it 

that the servants oTGod are veT eadv b T °T °' ''''"'"'^ P''"^^^ abundantly 

to be doubted, therefore that wlien tL 1 . "'T ' '^■''f'"' '° f""''- " ™' 

Christian teachers haTsuffered were "^^.-l"^"-"?-/"';/''* '"^"^ "^<^ ™™-We of 

the same course, and Ike ^1.0 lef 12 n ' . n"'! *" P"-™ 

Though not resting on the !, !, '"''^ ''i*'"'"'* ^erms. 

Xice b/the ded^^Iof th se ""^^^^^^^^ fb^lr ""'"f l' ^™««°-<l t"^^* 

thousand vears been used inThe Chri i . f " ''^'^ f""- "I'"™ 

"^VhoeveiwastheauXrof it " iys B n"ha™"^, " " '^°"f-^>°"- 
do.y,e.oeptbytheSa™osateni;n-:dtt:?;„^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



AT MOENING PEAYEE. 



But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, is all one : the Glory equal, the Majesty co- 
eternal. 

Such as the Father is, such is the Son : and such is the 
Holy Ghost. 

The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate : and the Holy 
Ghost uncreate. 

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehen- 
sible : and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. 

The Father eternal, the Son eternal : and the Holy 
Ghost eternal. 

Athanasius/' observes the venerable Hooker, " was both in the East and West churches accepted as 
a treasure of inestimable price, by as many as had not given up even the very ghost of belief." • 
Many controversies have risen respecting what are commonly termed the damnatory clauses of 
this Creed. But it would be well were it always remembered that our Church has done whatever 
it could to avoid the charge of novelty, intolerance, or dogmatical presumption, and has, therefore, 
adopted for its confession of belief the three most ancient and most generally received creeds of 
universal Christendom. No one who does not dispute the doctrine contained in the Athanasian 
Creed can doubt the value of a form of confession which exhibits it in distinct terms. The 
question with our Church, therefore, was simply this. Shall a creed be rejected whicli has from 
the remotest ages been repeated in the Christian Church, and acknowledged as a defence against 
the most dangerous errors ? Had it been rejected by the compilers of our Litm-gy, they would 
have evinced a want of respect for the authority which they never pretended to impugn— the 
authority of holy men in all ages, and all countries united in the profession of the same doctrine. 
But if the Creed was not to be put aside, could they do otherwise than receive it as it had come 
down to them ? Might they venture to alter or abridge it ? This again would have implied the 
possession of an authority to which the Fathers of our Church did not lay claim. They adopted 
the Creed, therefore, because its value and importance had been so generally acknowledged ; and 
they would not modify its expressions because they had no authority to do so. 

But while our Church thus manifests its reverence for the doctrines of the Fathers, and the forms 
under which they have been transmitted to it, the anathemas of this ancient Creed are not, perhaps, 
to be considered as adopted by it in the same manner as the Belief itself. They are not its own 
language. In the eighth article, where it speaks according to its independent authority, it simply 
says of the creeds that they " ought thoroughly to be received and believed, for they may be 
proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture," but it adds no anathema ; nor does it any- 
where assert that a man ought to be anathematized except in the eighteenth article, which refers 
to those who reject the Gospel altogether. 

That the Church would not on its own authority, or in its own name, have spoken in the con- 
cluding terms of this Creed, may also be inferred from the sentiments of some of its most dis- 
tinguished members. "For the articles themselves," says Jeremy Taylor, " I am most heartily 
persuaded of the truth of them, and yet I dare not say all that are not so are irrevocably damned." 
Archbishop Tillotson expressed himself in a similar manner. Bishop Burnet interprets the 
clause with the most cautious spirit of charity ; and the late Bishop of Winchester, in a work 
dedicated expressly to students for the ministry of the chm-ch, adopts almost the very languagie 
of Jeremy Taylor in his observations on this subject. 

But the sentiments thus expressed on the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed must not 
be regarded as detracting from the solemn authority of the doctrines in which it teaches us to 
say, "Ve beheve." Our Church has so appointed it to be used, that it may be repeated once a 
month ; and every true and humble-minded Cln-istian, whatever may be his feelings respecting 
the damnatory clauses as they refer to others, will in his own case take occasion from them to 
meditate earnestly on the state of his mind, to inquire whether he be in the faith, and to pray if 
it be yet imperfect, " Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief." 
39 



AT MOENING PKAYER 

And yet they are not three eternals : but one eternal. 

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three 
uncreated : but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible 

So Uvewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty ■ 
and the Holy Ghost Almighty. 

And yet they are not three Almighties : but one Al- 
mighty. 

So the Father is God, the Son is God : and the Holy 
Ghost is God. 

And yet they are not three Gods : but one God. 

So Hkewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord : and 
the Holy Ghost Lord. 

And yet not three Lords : but one Lord. 

For like as we are compelled by the Christian yerity • 
to acknowledge eyery person by himself to be God and 
Lord ; 

So are we forbidden by the Cathohck Kehgion : to say 
Ihere be three Gods, or three Lords. 

The Father is made of none : neither created, nor be- 
gotten. 

The Son is of the Father alone : not made, nor created 
but begotten. ' 

The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son • 
neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding 

So there is one Father, not three Fathers ; one Son not 
three Sons : one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. 
_ And m this Trinity none is afore, or after other • none 
is greater, or less than another; 

But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together • 
and co-equal. ^ 

So that in all things, as is aforesaid : the Unity in 
•Irmity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. 

Trinhy ^^''^ "'"''^'^ ■ 

Furthermore, it is necessary to eyerlasting salvation : 
that he also belieye rightly the Licamation of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 
40 



AT MOENINCx PRAYEE. 



For the right Faith is, that we beheve and confess : 
that oru' Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and 
Man : 

God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before 
the worlds : and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, 
born in the world ; 

Perfect God, and perfect Man : of a reasonable soul 
and human flesh subsistmg ; 

Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead : and in- 
ferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood. 

Who although he be God and Man : yet he is not two, 
but one Christ ; 

One ; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh : but 
by taking of the Manhood hito God ; 

One altogether ; not by confusion of Substance : but by 
unity of Person. 

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man : so 
God and Man is one Christ ; 

Who suflfered for our salvation : descended into hell, 
rose again the third day from the dead. 

He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand 
of the Father, God Almighty : from whence he shall come 
to judge the quick and the dead. 

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their 
bodies : and shall give account for their omi works. 

And they that have done good shall go into life ever- 
lasting : and they that have done evil into everlasting 
fire. 

This is the Catholick Faith : which except a man 
believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the 
Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : 
world mthout end. Amen. 



41 





% Here foUoivetJi the LITANY, or General Supplication, to he 
sung or said after Morning Prayer upon Sundays, Wednesdays, 
and Fridays, and at other times when it shall he commanded 
hy the Ordinary. 

GOD the Father of heaven: 
have mercy upon us miserable 
sinners. 

God the Father of heaveji : 
have mercy upon us miserable 
sinners. 

God the Son, Eedeemer 
of the world : have mercj^ upon 

us miserable sinners, 
p God the So7^ Redeemer of the ivorld : have 




mercy upon us miserable sinners. 



" The Litany"— This spiritual and beautiful portion of the Morning Service is so 
hUfull of the excellences whicli constitute the worth of prayer, that a clmrch may 
Ij f| rightly be counted Apostolic, Catholic, and Evangelical which uses it as in harmony 
with all its other offices. The word L^7a?^^/ was not originally employed to designate 
afiy particular kind of prayers ; but about the fourth century it began to be exclu- 
sively ajjplied to public services instituted when apprehensions of the divine displea- 
sure called for especial exercises of faith and devotion. In its literal signification it 
42 



THE LITANY. 



God the Holy Ghost, proceeclmg from the Father 
and the Son : have mercy upon us miserable smners. 

God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and 
the Son : have mercy upon lis miserable sinners, 

holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons and 
one God : have mercy upon us miserable sinners. 

holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons and one 
God : have mercy upon us miserable sinners. 

Remember not Lord, our offences, nor the offences of 
om- forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sms: 
spare lis, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast 
redeemed ^Aith thy most precious blood, and be not angTy 
with us for erer. 

Sp)are us, good Lord. 
From all evil and mischief; fi'om shi, from the crafts and 
assaults of the devil ; from thy wrath, and from everlasting 
damnation, 

Good Lord, deliver us. 
From all blmdness of heart ; fi'om pride, vain=glory, 

answers to the word supplication, and the approach of any great calamity was regarded by the 
Church as a warnmg to summon tlie people to more earnest and open prayer. Litames thence 
became peculiarly devoted to seasons of aMction ; and, as stated poi-tions of set Litm-gies, may 
be considered as that division of the service in which all who would deprecate Divine anger, or 
the dreaded punishment of sin, ought to take an earnest and devout interest. The Litames o. the 
earlv Churches were usuaUv repeated in solemn processions. Thus Gregory the Great mstituted 
what was termed the seven-fold Litany, so caUed from the various classes of the clergy and 
other religious persons engaged in the solemnity. It is from this Litany that o-ar own is chiehy 
taken but with such alterations as suit it to the simpler character of our behef and worship. 

The use of the Litany is confined to the thi-ee days of the week which are particularly con- 
.ecrated to the remembrance of Christ's sufferings and triumph. Originally, and till the review 
in 1661, it constituted a separate service, succeedmg to the Morning Prayer, and foiamng^ a fit 
introduction to the Communion. Though at present employed in immediate connexion witn the 
other parts of the Morning Service, an attentive worshipper will feel that it is so far distinct, as 
to supply him with calls to, and means and topics of, devotion, which could not be spared, how- 
ever excellent the rest of the Liturgy. T 4- +1 . 

In this as in other cases, serious attention should be paia to the order and divisions of the 
service, which very strikingly illustrate the cahn and harmonious spirit of true devotion Thus 
the Litany opens with a solemn address to the three persons of the adorable Trinity, and the cry 
for mercy min-les with a most humble confession of guiltiness. Having prayed that we may be 
.pared, that the anger of God may not rest upon us for ever, we next entreat dehverance from 
the various evils to which sin has rendered us subject, and this deliverance is sought through the 
merits of him " who died for our sins, and rose agaui for om- justification. ' ^ . 

Our fears allayed, and hope revived by this exercise of faith in the sovereign mercy of tne 
Lord we now "beseech him to hear us," whHe we ask for the helps and blessmgs necessary to 
our peace in this world, and our attainment of glory in the next. But according to the proper 
character of the Litanv, aU these entreaties for mercy, and these prayers for blessings, are closed 
by a pathetic supplication for true repentance, forgiveness, and renewmg grace. 

43 



THE LITANY. 



and hypocrisy ; from envy, hatred, and mahce, and all 
uncharitableness, 

Good Lord^ deliver us. 
From fornication, and all other deadly sin ; and from 
all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
Good Lord., deliver us. 
From lightning and tempest; fi'om plague, pestilence, 
and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden 
death. 

Good Lord., deliver us. 
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebeUion ; from 
all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of 
heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment, 
Good Lord., deliver us. 
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation ; by thy holy 
Nativity and Circumcision ; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and 
Temptation, 

Good Lord., deliver us. 
By thine Agony and bloody Sweat ; by thy Cross and 
Passion ; by thy precious Death and Burial ; by thy 
glorious Resurrection and Ascension ; and by the coming 
of the Holy Ghost, 

Good Lord., deliver us. 
In all time of our tribulation ; in all time of our 
wealth ; in the hour of death, and in the day of judg- 
ment. 

Good Lord., deliver us. 
We sinners do beseech thee to hear us, O Lord God • 
and that it may please thee to rule and govern thy holy 
Church universal in the right way ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to keep and strengthen in the 
true worshipping of thee, in righteousness and holiness of 
life, thy Servant VICTORIA, our most gracious Queen 
and Governour ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 

That it may please thee to rule her heart in thy faith, 
44 



THE LITANY. 



fear, and love, and that she may evermore have affiance 
m thee, and ever seek thy honour and glory ; 

We beseech thee to hear us^ good Lord 
That it may please thee to be her defender and keeper, 
ghong her the victory over all her enemies ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord, 
That it may please thee to bless and preserve Albert 
Edward Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the 
Koyal Family •, 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops, 
Priests, and Deacons, with true knowledge and under- 
standing of thy Word ; and that both by their preaching 
and livuig they may set it forth, and shew it accordingly ; 
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to endue the Lords of the Council, 
and all the Nobility, with grace, Avisdom, and imderstanding ; 
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to bless and keep the Magis- 
trates, giving them grace to execute justice, and to main- 
tain truth ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. ^ 
That it may please thee to give to all nations unity, 
peace, and concord ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to give us an heart to love and 
dread thee, and diligently to live after thy commandments ; 
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase 
of grace to hear meekly thy Word, and to receive it with 
pure affection, and to bring forth the fi'uits of the Spirit ; 
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth 
all such as have erred, and are deceived ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord, 

45 



THE LITANY. 



That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand ; 
and to comfort and help the weak-hearted; and to raise 
up them that fell; and finally to beat down Satan under 
our feet ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it maj please thee to succour, help, and comfort, 
all that are in danger, necessity, and tribulation ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord, 
That it may please thee to preserve aU that travel by 
land or by water, all women labouring of child, all sick 
persons, and young children ; and to shew thy pity upon 
all prisoners and captives ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to defend and provide for, the 
fetherless children and widows, and all that are desolate 
and oppressed ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men ; 

We beseech thee to hear us^ good Lord. 
That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, perse- 
cutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use 
the kmdly fruits of the earth, so 'as in due time we may 
enjoy them; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
That it may please thee to give us true repentance ; to 
torgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances; and 
to endue us mth the grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend 
our hves according to thy holy Word ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. 
Son of God : we beseech thee to hear us. 
Son of God: we beseech thee to hear us. 

.^^S^^^^^i f ^P^^ ^^'^'^ the spirit of the worshipper rests, 

"r^^^ l^rlZ'V K'^^'T ^ of the Saviour, our Lord isiilressed 

merittToust^^^^^ ^ f ^;^,,^^™ty, the Son of God ; next in his supremely pure and 

ncaven, tiie triumphant conqueror of sin and death 
46 



THE LITANY. 

Lamb of God : that takest away the sins of the world ; 

Grant us thy peace. 
Lamb of God : that takest away the sms of the world ; 

Save mercy upon us. 
Christ, hear us. 

Christy hear tis. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Lordyhave mercy upon us. 
Christ, have mercy upon us. 

Christ., have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Lord^ have mercy upon us. 




47 



THE LITANY. 




% Tlien shall the Priest, and the people imth Mm, say the Lord's Prayer. 

UE Father, which art in hea- 
ven, Hallowed be thy Name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will 
be done in earth, As it is in 
heaven. Give us this day our 
daily bread. And forgive us 
our trespasses. As we forgive 
them that trespass against us. 
And lead us not into tempta- 
tion; But deliver us from evil. 
Amen. 

Priest Lord, deal not with us after our sins. 
Ansioer, Neither reward us after our iniquities. 

Let us pray. 
GOD, merciful Father, that despisest 
not the sighing of a contrite heart, 
nor the desire of such as be sorrow- 
ful ; Mercifully assist our prayers 
that we make before thee in all our 
troubles and adversities, whensoever 
they oppress us ; and graciously hear 
us, that those evils, which the craft 
and subtilty of the devil or man worketh against us, 
be brought to nought; and by the providence of thy 
goodness they may be dispersed ; that we thy servants, 
being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks 
unto thee in thy holy Church ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 

Lord, arise^ help us, and deliver us for thy Names 
sake. 




Ihe Lord sPrcnjer. '—The Lord's Prayer is introduced as necessary to every set form of de- 
votion, and the exliortation, " Let us pray," is used as in the former instances to rouse the mind 
of the worshipper to higher degrees of fervour. The prayers which follow may be regarded as 
collects o the Litany, that is, as collecting in a succinct form the substance of all the preceding 
supplications. St. Ghrysostom's Prayer, and The Grace, formed tl.e conclusion to tlie Litany, 
when a'^d as a separate sei-vice, as they now do to tlie whole of the Morning Prayer. 
48 



THE LITANY. 



God, we have heard with our ears, 
and our fathers have declared unto 
us, the noble works that thou didst 
in their days, and in the old time 
before them. 

Lord^ arise^ help us^ and deliver us 
for thine honour. 

Glory be to the Father, and to 
the Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

Answer. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever 
shall be : world without end. Amen. 
From our enemies defend us, Christ. 
Graciously look upon our afflictions. 
Pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts. 
Mercif ully forgive the sins of thy people. 
Favourably with mercy hear our prayers. 
Son of David, have mercy upon us. 
Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, Christ. 
Graciously hear us, Christ; graciously hear usy Lord 
Christ. 

Priest Lord, let thy mercy be shewed upon us ; 
Answer. As we do put our trust in thee. 

Let us pray. 
E humbly beseech thee, Father, 
mercifully to look upon our infirmities ; 
and for the glory of thy Name, turn 
from us all those evils that we most 
righteously have deserved ; and grant, 
that in all our troubles we may put 
our whole trust and confidence in thy 
mercy, and evermore serve thee in 
holiness and pureness of living, to thy honour and glory ; 
through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ 
om Lord. Amen. 

" God, ive have heard,'' c&c.— The feeling of devotion, the earnest confidence of supplication, is 
greatly strengtliened by the recollection of what God has done for his people in the days of old. It 
is both our interest and our duty to prepare ourselves for using these v/ords aright by habitual 
meditation on the history of Divine Providence. 

49 . H 





THE LITANY. 



^1 Prayer of St Chrysostom. 

LMIGHTY God, ^vho hast given us 
grace at this time with one accord to 
make om' common suppUcations unto 
thee ; and dost promise, that when 
two or three are gathered together 
in thy Name, thou wilt grant their 
requests Fulfil now, Lord, the 
desires and petitions of thy servants, 
as may be most expedient for them ; granting us in this 
A\'orld knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come 
life everlasting. Amen, 




2 Cor. xiii. 
HE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the fellow- 
ship of the Holy Ghost, be with us 
all evermore. Amen. 

Here endeth the LITANY. 



- — 



iiffflf I II lihili ill 00 

' _ MW^W^M 




PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS, » 

UPON SEVEKAL OCCASIONS, ^ W ^ 

^ To he used before the two final Prayers of the Litany, or of 
Morning and Evening Prayer. 




W 



PRAYERS. 

i^or Rain. 

)^ GOD, heavenly Fatlier, wlio by 
thy Son Jesus. Christ hast pro- 
mised to all them that seek thy 
kingdom, and the righteousness 
thereof, all things necessary to 
their bodily sustenance ; Send 
us, we beseech thee, in this our 
necessity, such moderate rain 
and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the 
earth to our comfort, and to thy honour ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen- 

" For Bain." — The Church is the gate of heaven. Whatever we need or sntFer it is 
there we are to present our ^supplications for reKef. The hour of peril often tinds us 

51 



PKAYEES. 



For fair Weather,' 

ALMIGHTY Lord God, who for 
the sin of man didst once drown all 
the AYorld, except eight persons, and 
rfterward of thy great mercy didst 
promise never to destroy it so again ; 
We hmiibly beseech thee, that al- 
though we for our iniquities have 
worthily deserved a plague of rain 
and waters, yet upon our true repentance, thou wilt send 
us such weather, as that we may receive the fruits of 
the earth in due season ; and learn both by thy punish- 
ment to amend our lives, and for thy clemency to give 
thee praise and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen, 





In the time of Dearth and Famine, 

GOD, heavenly Father, whose gift 
it is, that the rain doth fall, the earth 
is fruitful, beasts increase, and fishes 
do multiply; Behold, we beseech 
thee, the afflictions of thy people ; and 
grant that the scarcity and dearth, 
which we do now most justly suffer 
for our iniquity, may through thy 
goodness be mercifully turned into cheapness and plenty ; 

disturbed in thought as weU as oppressed in spirit. Eesting on om-selves, we sink and languish, 
and the very season in which prayer would afford the greatest consolation, is tli^t in which we are 
least able to depend upon our own resom-ces, our own sohtary faith. While this is the case in 
respe<;t to private, it is so also in regard to fears and apprehensions produced by public calamities 
Apart, m our own homes, we are imable to contend with alarm ; but in the Chui-ch and 
sunounded by many children and servants of God, the danger may be viewed more calmly 
and the means of rcUef sought m deep and composed prayer. The promises of Scriptm-e, moreovei-' 
teach everj- Cliristian to beheve that, " the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,'" and 
tlia as He is especially present with his people when assembled together, the fii-st signs of distress 
ought always to be viewed as calls to prayer, and to sucli other acts of devotion as may be suited 
to the occasion. It was according to this principle that our Chm-ch mtroduced the foUowino- 
prayers mto the Liturg>^ the simplicity and scriptural tone of which give them every claim to 
devout attention. The first two were in the original Liturgv of King Edward; tlie other four 
were not added till the second book was compiled 
52 



PEAYEES. 




for the love of Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee, 
and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and 
for ever. Amen. 

Or this. 

GOD, merciful Father, who, in the 
time of Ehsha the prophet, didst sud- 
denly in Samaria turn great scarcity 
and dearth into plenty and cheap- 
ness ; Have mercy upon us, that we, 
who are now for our sins punished 
with lilve adversity, may likewise find 
a seasonable relief: Increase the 
fraits of the earth by thy heavenly benediction ; and grant 
that we, receiving thy bountiful liberality, may use the 
same to thy glory, the relief of those that are needy, and 
our own comfort ', through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

In the time of War and Tumults. 

ALMIGHTY God, King of ah kings, 
and Governour of all things, whose 
power no creature is able to resist, 
to whom it belongeth justly to punish 
sinners, and to be merciful to them 
that truly repent; Save and deliver 
us, we humbly beseech thee, fi'om the 
hands of our enemies ; abate their 
pride, asswage their mahce, and confound their devices ; 
that we, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved 
evermore from aU perils, to glorify thee, who art the only 
giver of ah victory ; through the merits of thy only Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

" In the time of EUslm^ &e.-The circumstance alluded to in this prayer is recorded in 2 Kings 
iv 38—44. Seasons of danger prove the value of that faith and holiness which the servants of Gcd 
CTiltivate, not only to their own profit, but for the good of mankmd at large. Even they who bask 
most tlioughtlessly in the sun of prosperity, and scarcely wake to recollect the change of seasons, 
^^^ll one day learn that they owed the protracted period of mercy to the intercession of those who 
pray in the spu'it of EUsha. See also St, James v. 16-18. This prayer was omitted m Queen 
EHzabeth's book, but restored at the review of the Liturgy. 

53 




PKAYEES. 



In the time of any common Plague or Sickness. 

ALMIGHTY God, who in thy ^y^ath 
didst send a plague upon thine own 
people in the mlderness, for their 
obstinate rebellion against Moses and 
Aaron ; and also, in the time of king 
David, didst slay with the plague of 
Pestilence threescore and ten thou- 
sand, and yet remembering thy mercy 
didst save the rest ; Have pity upon us miserable sinners, 
who now are visited with great sickness and mortahtv; 
that lilve as thou didst then accept of an atonement, and 
didst command the destroying Angel to cease from punish- 
ing ; so it may now please thee to withdraw from us this 
plague and grievous sickness; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 





^ In the Emher Weeks, to he said every clay^ for those that 
are to he admitted into Holy Orders. 

LMIGHTY God, our heavenly Fa- 
ther, who hast purchased to thyself 
an universal Church, by the precious 
blood of thy dear Son ; Mercifully 
look upon the same^ and at this time 
so guide and govern the minds of thy 
servants the Bishops and Pastors of 
thy flock, that they may lay hands 
suddenly on no man, but faithfully and wisely make 

''Ire the E^nber WeelC cfcc.-The Embsr days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 
he fars Sunday m Lent, the feast of Pentecost, or ^Tiitsunday, September the 14th and December 
rn 11 11 1? expressly said that, " Forasmuch as the ancient Fathers of the 

Church, led by the example of the apostles, appointed prayers and feasts to be used at the solemn 
n^firL . P^'P^^^ '^11°^^^^ «^es,. m which only sacred orders 

.W^ t r'^r "^^"^^ ^''^ ^'''^ ''^^S^'^' ^^^-Pl^' do constitute and 

deciee, that no deacons or mmisters be made and ordamed but only upon the Sundays immechately 
following lejumaquat^or temporum, appointed in ancient time for prarer and fasling (purposely 
fortius cause at their firs mstitution), and so contmued at this day in'the Clunch of England.'' 
llic meaning of the word Emher is doubtful, but it is generally supposed to signify a fast Tor the 
ashes which persons sprinkled on their heads when fa.ting, or pciluq.s the course in which the 
fasts occurred. 

54 



PEAYEES. 




choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred Ministry of 
thv Church. And to those which shall be ordained to 
any holy function, give thy grace and heavenly benedic- 
tion ; that both by their life and doctrine they may set 
forth thy glory, and set forward the salvation of all men; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 

Or this, 

LMIGHTY God, the giver of all 
good gifts, who of thy divine provi- 
dence hast appointed divers Orders 
in thy Church; Give thy grace, we 
humbly beseech thee, to all those who 
are to be called to any office and ad- 
ministration in the same; and so 
replenish them with the truth of thy 
doctrine, and endue them with innocency of life, that 
they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of 
thy great Name, and the benefit of thy holy Church; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

% A Prayer that may be said after any of the former, 

GOD, whose nature and property is 
(f/^K^ll^C ^^^^v ever to have mercy and to forgive, 

receive our humble petitions ; and 
though we be tied and bound with 
the chain of our sins, yet let the piti- 
fulness of thy great mercy loose us; 
for the honour of Jesus Christ, our 
Mediator and Advocate. Amen, 

Or this.— It was the earnest desii-e of St. Paul that the people whom he had instructed in the 
Gospel might be urgent in their prayers for him at the Throne of Grace. If such was the wish of 
an Apostle" how much more so must it be that of those who, coming so far behmd him in gifts, have 
yet entered into the same office, and may, at least in some degree, share liis zeal, his desire to make 
known the truth, and glorify Ms Heavenly Master ! It is such prayers as these which the Heavenly 
Advocate rejoices to present at the Throne of Grace, and in otfermg which we best prove om- 
fidelity to the cause of God and the Clutch. 

» A prayer that may he said," (fee— This prayer was added to the Liturgy as revised m the tmie 
of Queen Elizal^eth. It is well adapted to its object, which appears to be that the humble 
worshipper may supply the acknowledged deficiency of his prayers by an application to the all- 
sufficient fulness of divine mercy. 

55 




PEAYERS. 




^ A Prayer for the High Court of Parliament, to be read 

during their Session, 

OST gracious God, we humbly be- 
seech thee, as for this Kingdom in 
general, so especially for the High 
Court of Parliament, under our most 
religious and gracious Queen at this 
time assembled: That thou wouldest 
be pleased to direct and prosper all 
their consultations to the advancement 
of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour, 
and welfare of our Sovereign and her Dominions ; that all 
I things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours, 
^/ upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and hap- 
pmess, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be 
estabhshed among us for all generations. These and all 
other necessaries, for them, for us, and thy whole Church, 
we humbly beg in the Name and Mediation of Jesus 
Christ our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen, 

A Collect or Prayer for all Conditions of me?!, to be used 
at such times ivhen the Litany is not appointed to be said. 

GOD, the Creator and Preserver of 
all mankind, we humbly beseech thee 
for all sorts and conditions of men ; 
that thou wouldest be pleased to make 
thy ways known unto them ; thy saving 
health unto all nations. More espe- 
cially we pray for the good estate of 
the Catholick Church ; that it may be 

Lituf^^' t{T &o.~TU, prayer was not added till the last review of the 

i7 I!f;- J f ^'"^''f ^ f ^^^^^'^^ I'^litical wisdom can avail nothing- if 

T^^IZ^u r; . ' ^'^'^^ °f ^orld is foolislmess." When 

t^f«r .11 ? ^^""^ ^^""'^^ responsibility of labom-ing for its 

' .^7 " ' T w ^ .^^^-^^S^^^^-^' Messed in their work. The use of the epithet 
.2^1 fi! sovereigns of very different characters, would not be warranted were it 

ZTt ^ 7 T"'- P'^'"^^ ''^-^ -^^i ™o^-e -tended as descrip- 

nf t,;l^r '7- r ^"^^^^ ^'"'^ honouvaUe as appended to the names 

nt those ^^ho occupy particular ofhces or stations in society. 

56 




PEAYEES. 



SO guided and govemed by thy good Spirit, tiiat all 
Avho profess and call themselves Christians may be led 
into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, 
in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally, 
we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those, who are 
any ways afflicted, or distressed, in mind, body, or estate ; 

* Tkis to be said \^ especially those for luhom our prayers are 
Pwers'Tf tfcon- desireci;] tl^^t it may please thee to 'comfort 
gregation. aud relicYe them, according to their several 

necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, 
and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this 
we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen. 

" Prayer for all conditions of men," &g. — There is an earnest appeal to every holy and kindly 
sentiment of our hearts in the title of this prayer. If we he rich, let our alms ascend for a memo- 
rial before God as "^ell as onr petitions ; hut deprived of every other means of doing good, we are 
here taught that the way is open to the exercise of charity, however helpless we may seem. The 
prayer which onr Church instructs us to use for this purpose is in the true Sphit of Him who ' so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that wLosoever believeth in him sliould not 
perish, but have evei'lasting life,' — of Him ' who will have all men to he saved, and to come unto 
the knowledge of the truth.' The petition for the Catholic, that is the Universal C/z?/?r7?, is espe- 
cially indicative of this sublime feeling of love. It is not for itself simply that om- Church prays, 
or to itself that it applies, by way of eminence, the name of Church ; it prays under that name for 
all the true people of God who have one faith, one Lord, one Spirit. The supplications for those 
who are afflicted are alms and prayer both, converted, united, melted into one, by the warmth of 
Christian love, and the still mightier efficacy of the divine blessing. It ought to lie heavily on 
the conscience of those who are in the habit of hearing it said, ' The prayers of the congregation 
are desired,' but either through inattention or sloth allow the prayer to be repeated witliout heartily 
ioining in its petitions. 




57 



T H A N K S G I I N G S. 



^ ^-1 General Thanksgiving. 




L:\nGHTY God, Father of all mer- 
cies, we thine unworthy servants do 
give thee most humble and hearty 
thanks for all thv a^oodness and lovino- 
kindness to us, and to all men: [^jxir- 
This to he s^id ticula I'll/ to tliose icho desire 

^henanythatW^^^^^. q/f>r VJj fheiv prcdseS 



been prayed for de- 
sire to return praise, and thanksgivings for thy late 

mercies vouchsafed unto them.] We bless thee for our cre- 
ation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life ; but 
above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption 
of the world by our Lord J esus Christ ; for the means of 
gTace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, 
give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that om' hearts 
may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy 
praise, not only with om' lips, but m our lives ; by gi^^ng 
up ourselves to thy ser^dce, and by walking before thee in 
holiness and righteousness all our days : through Jesus 
Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost 
be all honour and oiorv, world without end. Amen. 



''A general Tha'/iksgiving.' — 'A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be tbankful,' is a sentiment 
trae to natural as well as spiritual feeling. The ordinary state of a Christian, undepressed by fears, 
unliarassed by multiplied temptations, is that of thankfulness : and when he has joined liis brethren 
in prayers for mercy, he reverts with joy to the blessings already received, and in the fulness of 
filial gratitude pours out his heart in praises to the God of love. The thanksgiving is as universal 
in its spirit and application as the prayer for all men. It gives thanks for those who have not 
yet been taught the heavenly lesson of gratitude to God. It gives thanks for every blessing we 
enjoy, or are made capable of enjoying through the mercy of. om- Fatlier and the merits of our 
Redeemer ; and it closes with a petition, indirectly the best praise which could be offered, that we 
may be Tendered more and more wise to appreciate, and more capable of exhibiting, the force and 
influence of the divine goodness. 

This prayer was not added till the last review of the Liturgy, and is said to have been composed 
by Bisliop Sanderson. Those which follow were inserted in the tune of James the First ; and an 
objection was thereby removed which had been made with some degi-ee of reason, namely, that we 
had no form of thanksgiving for deliverances obtained in answer to om pravers 

58 



THANKSaiYINGS. 

For Rain. 

GOD our heavenly Father, who by 
thy gracious proyidence dost cause 
the former and the latter ram to 
descend upon the earth, that it may 
bring forth fruit for the use of man ; 
We pive thee humble thanks that it 
hath pleased thee, in our great ne- 
cessity, to send us at the last a joyful 
rain upon thine inheritance, and to refresh it when it was 
dry, to the great comfort of us thy unworthy servants, 
and to the glory of thy holy Name ; through thy mercies 
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

For Fair Weather. 

LOKD God, who hast justly humbled 
us by thy late plague of immoderate 
rain and waters, and in thy mercy 
hast relieved and comforted our souls 
by this seasonable and blessed change 
of weather ; We praise and glorify thy 
holy Name for this thy mercy, and 
will always declare thy loving-kind- 
ness from generation to generation; through Jesus Christ 
oiu* Ijord. Amen. 

For Plenty. 

MOST merciful Father, who of thy 
gracious goodness hast heard the de- 
vout prayers of thy Church, and 
turned om' dearth and scarcity into 
cheapness and plenty ; We give 
thee humble thanks for this thy 
special bounty ; beseeching thee to 
continue thy loving-kindness unto us, 






THANKSaiyiNGS. 

that our land iiiay yield us her fruits of increase, to thy 
glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Jbnen, 



For Peace and Deliverance from our Enemies. 

ALMIGHTY God, who art a strong 
tower of defence unto thy servants 
against the face of their enemies ; 
We yield thee praise and thanks- 
giving for our dehverance from those 
great and apparent dangers where- 
with we were compassed : We ac- 
knowledge it thy goodness that we 
were not dehvered over as a prey unto them; beseech- 
ing thee still to continue such thy mercies towards us, 
that all the world may know that thou art our Saviour 
and mighty Dehverer; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 





For restoring Publick Peace at Home. 

ETERNAL God, our heavenly Fa- 
ther, who alone makest men to be of 
one mind in a house, and stillest the 
outrage of a violent and unruly peo- 
ple; We bless thy holy Name, that 
it hath pleased thee to appease the 
seditious tumults which have been 
lately raised up amongst us ; most 



" For Peace," t&c— There are seasons in wliicli the Almighty manifestly stretches forth his hand 
to deliver the nation from calamity. Tremblingly alive to danger, we surely ought not to be less 
awake to the mercy whereby alone deliverance is effected. National calamities should be met by 
national prayer, and national deliverance by national thanksgivings. Were we more attentive to 
the signs of Divine displeasiu-e and returning mercy, the substance of these prayers would often 
enter si>iritually into the general form under which they are ranged. We need deliverance from 
many an unnamed danger ; and we owe a vast debt of gratitude to God for innumerable blessings, 
mighty in their influence, but invisible in their operation. 

60 



THANKSGIYINGS. 



humbly beseeching thee to grant to all of us grace, that 
we may henceforth obediently walk in thy holy com- 
mandments ; and, leading a quiet and peaceable life in 
all godliness and honesty, may continually offer unto 
thee our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for these 
thy mercies towards us ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 



For Deliverance from the Plague^ or other common 

Sickness, 

LORD GOD, who hast wounded us 
for our sins, and consumed us for our 
transgressions, by thy late heavy and 
dreadful visitation; and now, in the 
midst of judgement remembering 
mercy, hast redeemed our souls from 
the jaws of death ; We offer unto thy 
fatherly goodness ourselves, our souls 
and bodies which thou hast delivered, to be a living 
sacrifice unto thee, always praising and magnifying thy 
mercies in the midst of thy Church ; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. A7nen, 




Or this. 

E humbly acknowledge before thee, 
most merciful Father, that all the 
punishments which are threatened in 
thy law might justly have fallen upon 
us, by reason of our manifold trans- 
gressions and hardness of heart : Yet 
seeing it hath pleased thee of thy 
tender mercy, upon our weak and 
unworthy humiliation, to asswage the contagious sickness 
wherewith we lately have been sore afflicted, and to 
restore the voice of joy and health into our dwelhngs ; 
61 




THANKSGIVINGS. 



We offer unto^ thy Divine Majesty the sacrifice ot praise 
and thanksgiving, lauding and magnifying thy glorious 
Name for such thy preservation and providence over us ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



f Note that the Collect a;p])ointed for every Sunday, or for any Holiday that hath a 
Vigil or Eve, shall he said at the Evening Service next before. 



The First Sunday in Advent, 




The Collect, 

LMIGHTY God, give us grace that 
we may cast away the works of dark- 
ness, and put upon us the armour of 
hght, now in the time of this mortal 
hfe, in which thy Son Jesus Christ 
came to visit us in great humihty; 
that in the last day, when he shall come again in his 
glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and dead, 
w^e may rise to the life immortal, through him who 
liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, 
now and ever. Ameii. 

1 TJiis Collect is to he repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until 

Christmas Eve. 

The arrangement of the Coli,ects, Epistles, and Gospels in the order here observed has pre- 
vailed from the most ancient times. It is to the zeal and piety of St, Jerome that the selection is 
ascribed ; and the assertion of its antiquity is justified by the frequent allusion to the Collects, 
or portions of Scripture appointed for particular days, in the homilies of the early fathers. 
The Collects, though for the most part left unaltered, were revised on being adopted into om- 
Liturgy ; and the Epistles and Gospels, which were, at first, taken from the old version, or that of 
the great Bible, were subsequently selected from the last translation,— an improvement for which 
we appear to be indebted chiefly to the presbyterian divines. Formerly, and according to the first 

65 . K 



THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 



The Einstle, Eom. xiii. 8, 

WE no man any thing, but to love 
one another : for he that loveth ano- 
ther hath fulfiUed the law. For this, 
Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou 
shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, 
Thou shalt not bear false witness. 
Thou shalt not covet; and if there 
be any other commandment, it is 
briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt 
love thy neighbour as thyself Love worketh no ill to 
his neighbour ; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to 
awake out of sleep : for now is our salvation nearer than 
when we beheved. The night is far spent, the day is at 
hand : let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and 
let us put on the armour of hght. Let us walk honestly 
as in the day ; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in 
chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not pro- 
vision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof 

book of King Edward VI., a proper psalm was appointed to precede tlie reading of the Collect at 
the Communion. This psalm was called Tlie Introit, from its being used when the priest entered 
the altar ; and as it was selected with great care, and in close correspondence with the Gospel, it 
might be productive of benefit were a similar selection still authorised. 

As the Jews began their religious or ecclesiastical year from the memorable day on which they 
were dehvered from Egypt, so the Christian Church commences the coiu'se of its annual services 
•with the dawning of the Day of Salvation ; — the approacli of him in whom all things have become 
new. The word Advent means a coming, or arrival ; and the season of preparation to which it 
refers has been observed in the Church for at least fourteen hundred years. 

Tee Collect.— Of the four collects for Advent, the last is the only one traced immediately to 
an ancient source. The first and second were composed for the reformed Liturgy ; and the third 
was added at the Eestoration, to supply the place of one thought inadequate to the occasion. 
Founded on the most beautiful expressions of spiritual eloquence, the First Collect teaches us to 
seek that purifying, and at the same time fortifying grace, which alone can fit men for the service 
of Clirist. He now comes to us as a Saviour : let us cast away darkness from our hearts ; the pride, 
—the folly,— the sensuahty, which have hitherto separated us from God. He will return from his 
throne as a Judge : let us so live in the Spu-it now, that, we may rise by the Spirit hereafter ! 

The Epistle.— The wisdom and power of tlje Gospel are eminently set forth in this portion of 
Scripture. Ever}^ practical duty of life is urged upon us by the grand argument of love which 
forming the gi-ound-work of tlje whole system of creation and redemption, enters also, like the 
pervading breath of tlie Universal Spirit, into the minutest circumslance and relation of tlie Cliris- 
tians course. Our preparation for the coming of Christ, either as a Saviour or a Judge, can go 
but slowly on while we are making " provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." Then only 
can we be fit to appear before him when from the grave of sin we wake up in his own lilreness, 
having "put him on " by the graces of faith and holiness 

66 




THE FIEST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 





The Gospel St. Matt. xxi. 1. 

HEN they drew nigh unto Jeru- 
salem, and were come to Bethphage, 
unto the mount of Olives, then sent 
^ Jesus two disciples, saying unto them. 
Go into the village over against you, 
and straightway ye shall fiud an ass 
tied, and a colt with her : loose them, 
and bring them unto me. And if any 
man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath 
need of them ; and straightway he will send them. All 
this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
by the Prophet, saying. Tell ye the daughter of Sion, 
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting 
upon an ass, and a colt the fole of an ass. And the dis- 
ciples w^ent, and did as Jesus commanded them ; and 
brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their 
clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great 
multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut 
down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the 
way. And the multitudes that went before, and that 
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David ; 
Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord; 
Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into 
Jerusalem all the city was moved, saying. Who is this? 
Aiid the multitude said, This is Jesus the Prophet of 
Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of 
God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the 
temple ; and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, 
and the seats of them that sold doves : and said unto 
them. It is written. My house shall be called the house of 
prayer ; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 

The Gospel. — Tliis account of Christ's entrance into Jerusalem is chosen for the Gospel of 
th.e day as illustrating the prophetic character of our Lord. We here behold him coming as the 
King of Israel — " Behold I have set my king upon my holy hill of Sion." As the Messenger of 
the Covenant, suddenly coming to his Temple, and manifesting his authority in that house of 
prayer. But with all this, he comes in the meekness of one who intended to make himself an 
offering for the sins of his people. Isai.dxii. 11, Zech. ix. 9. 

67 



The Second Sunday in Advent 





The Collect, 
LESSED Lord, who hast caused all 
holy Scriptures to be written for our 
learning ; Grant that we may in such 
wise hear them, read, mark, learn^ 
and inwardly digest them, that by 
patience and comfort of thy holy 
Word, we may embrace, and ever 
hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which 
thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Amen, 



The Collect. — Our religion is a religion of revelation ; a religion to be known only by the 
teaching of God. The works of nature, the ways of Providence, as well as the loftier mysteries 
of spiritual being and action, form together a wondrous' whole, no one part of which can be 
separated from the other in the due contemplation of Divine goodness. God works out his pur- 
poses by means variously cliosen : He "hath made all things for himself;" but it is not on the 
face of things tliat He has made known his counsels. It is in the series of communications vouch- 
safed by his Spirit, where alone we are to look for the bearing of his work, the influence of his 
determinations on our higher destinies. The necessity of help in the study of Scripture appears 
both from the nature of flie subjects contemplated, and tlie express precept of its Author, " The 
natural man receiveth uf.t tiie tilings of tlie Spirit of God," and " The things of God knoweth no 
man, but tlje Spirit of God.'" 

68 



THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 




The Epistle. Rom. xv, 4. 

HATSOEVER things were written 
aforetime, were written for our learn- 
ing ; that we through patience and 
comfort of the Scriptures, might have 
hope. Now the God of patience and 
consolation grant you to be like- 
minded one towards another, accord- 
ing to Christ Jesus; that ye may 
with one mind, and one mouth, glorify God, even the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye 
one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of 
God. Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the 
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises 
made unto the fathers: And that the Gentiles might 
glorify God for his mercy ; as it is written. For this cause 
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto 
thy Name. And again he saith. Rejoice, ye Gentiles, 
with his people. And again. Praise the Lord, all ye 
Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias 
saith. There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall 
rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles 
trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and 
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through 
the power of the Holy Ghost. 



The EpiSTLE.-Tlie Epistle instructs us in the use of a most valuable privilege. It is the comfort 
of a Christian to know that the Bible, in all its divisions, is given for his advantage ; that the 
Holy Spirit has written that he may be comforted and taught to hope. St. Paul s application of 
this truth is equally interesting and important. God gave not his promises of future happiness 
to a small section of the race, but intended them for men of every age and chme. The Advent ot 
Christ fulfils these promises, first in the means of grace ; secondly, in the consummations of glory. 
On examining the pages of the prophets, we everywhere behold traces of the Divine mten ions 
respecting tlhs recall of mankind to favour. In the blessing given to his faith, the Gospel was 
preached befoi-ehand unto Abraham." The exalted sentiments of love and hope, which breathe 
Z igh the noblest of the Psalms, owe their beauty to this anticipation f Evange ical g^^^^^^^ 
Isaiah drawing his inspiration from the wells of salvation, rejoicmg to watch the day-spi ng of 
r rmption, passes continually beyond the boundaries of the system under which he lived, and 
det"tL;Lf in proclaiming freedom and glory to all the nations of the earth. See Psalms 
xviii. 49, cxvii. 1. Deut. xxxii. 43, andJsaiah xi. 1, 10. 
69 



THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 




The GospeL St. Luke xxi. 25. 

ND there shall be signs in the sun, 
and in the moon, and in the stars ; 
and upon the earth distress of nations, 
with perplexity, the sea and the waves 
roaring; men's hearts failing them 
for fear, and for looking after those 
things which are coming on the earth : 
for the powers of heaven shall be 
shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming 
in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these 
things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up 
your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. And he 
spake to them a parable. Behold the fig-tree, and all 
the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know 
of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So 
lil^ewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know 
ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I 
say unto you. This generation shall not pass away, till all 
be fulfilled : heaven and earth shall pass away ; but my 
words shall not pass away. 



The Gospel.— If our minds refuse to bestow proper attentioi] on the first coming of Christ, they 
are here roused to thoughtfulness by his own prophetic warning respecting his second coming. 
Perhaps to us he may come beforehand by special judgments, inflicted on us individually, as he 
punished the Jews; so that this generation will not have passed away till all which concerns us 
be fulfilled. But the day is certainly coming in which all men shall stand before His throne. 
Prepared by signs and wonders for its approach, let us watch and be sober." The warning to 
Jerusalem and its people was fulfilled in the course of forty years, and in a manner the most 
complete and fearful. Not one stone of the temple was left upon another ; the city of Zion, once 
the joy of the whole land, the boast of nations for its strength and beauty, became a heap of stones ; 
Its people fell beneath the outstretched arm of the Angel of the Covenant which they had 
despised ; and mankind might behold in their awful fate a terrible type of that of the world itself, 
persistmg m the rejection of Christ, and his proffered righteousness. God has never punished his 
creatures without having given them time to repent, and plead for that mercy which He is always 
ready to exercise till holiness and truth oblige him to fulfil his judgments. We read of these 
inflictions as matter of history merely, instead of solemnly contemijlating them as the results of a 
progressive and undeviating plan, which necessarily involves the disobedient in ruin, while it 
carries forward the righteous to endless happiness and perfection. That such subjects demand 
frequent meditation, is as trae as that our personal interests are inseparably bound up with the 
principles and events to wiiich they refer. It is impossible that the consequences of a system 
combining m its action the miglity powers of Divine justice and Divine love, and the knowledge of 
winch has been communicated to mankind in language the most universal, should fail in respect 
to any being originally made subject to the design 
70 



The Third Sunday in Advent, 




The Collect. 
Lord Jesu Christ, who at thy 
first coming didst send thy 
messenger to prepare thy way 
before thee; Grant that the 
ministers and stewards of thy 
mysteries mayhkewise so pre- 
pare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts 
of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at 
thy second coming to judge the world we may be 
found an acceptable people in thy sight, who hvest 
and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, 
ever one God, world without end. Amen. 



The Collect.— There is a progress and gradation to be observed in the Collects for Advent. 
In the first we pray for the grace of a general preparation : in the second, for ability to read and 
understand aright the revelation of Divine mysteries ; and now we seek the blesshig of God for 
those who are appointed to minister in holy things —to comfort the sorrowful, to warn the obsti- 
nate, and instruct the ignorant, by pointing their thoughts to the power and goodness of a Saviour, 
and to the certainty of his second coming. 

71 



THE THIKD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 



The Ejjistle. 1 Cor. iv. 1. 



ET a man so account of us, as of the 
ministers of Christ, and stewards of 
the mysteries of God. Moreover, it 
is required in stewards, that a man 
be found faithful. But with me it is 
a very small thing that I should be 
judged of you, or of man's judgement : 
yea, I judge not mdne OAvn self For 
I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified ; 
but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge 
nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both 
will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will 
make manifest the counsels of the hearts ; and then shall 
every man have praise of God. 




Th 



le 




Gospel St. Matth. xi. 2. 

OW when John had heard in the 
prison the works of Christ, he sent 
two of his disciples, and said unto 
him. Art thou he that should come, 
or do we look for another? Jesus 
answered and said unto them. Go 
and shew John again those things 
which ye do hear and see : The blind 



The Epistle. — The respect due to the ministers of Clirist corresponds to their responsibility. 
As intrusted with the administration of the riches of heavenly knowledge, they may rightly claim a 
serious attention to theii- counsels and persuasions. But the trust which gives them this claim to 
respect is of the most awful kind, and the words of the Apostle, "it is required in stewards that a 
man be found faithful," imply instruction, which reaches the heart of every thoughtful and con- 
scientious servant of God. To such the judgment of the world is of little consequence; yet they 
can entreat it to pause in its decisions, assured as they are that when hidden things are brought to 
light, they will be foimd to have served the best interests of mankind in serving God. 

The Gospel.— It was not without the most cautious inquiry and observation thattlie early wit- 
nesses to the trutli of the Gospel allowed themselves to be convinced of its divine origin. John the 
Baptist must have been long impressed with general convictions that the Son of Mary was the 
Messiah, whose way he was to prepare ; but it was not till he had seen the Spirit descending and 
abiding upon him, and had heard a voice from heaven proclaiming him the Son of God, that he 
properly became a believer in Christ. The question which he now put was asked, probably, ratlier 
for the sake of his disciples than himself; but he miglit be anxious to add proof to proof; and it 
ought to be remembered that, gixat as was John the Baptist, the least in the kingdom of heaven, 
72 



THE THIED SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 



receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are 
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and 
the poor have the Gospel preached to them : And blessed 
is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And as 
they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes 
concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness 
to see ? a reed shaken with the wind ? But what went ye 
out for to see ? a man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, 
they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But 
what went ye out for to see ? a prophet ? yea, I say unto 
you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it 
is written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, 
which shall prepare thy way before thee. 

that is, tlie lowest subject of the dispensation of faith is greater than he. The practical answer 
of Christ showed that he was indeed the Prophet, the Deliverer, for whom the nations looked. 

It is worthy of observation that, in the allusion which our Lord makes to his miracles, he speaks 
of every class of disease to which the human frame is most painfully liable. Not pausing here, 
he refers to the final proof of their mastery in the power of death ; and to the equally sad but less 
evident residts of the dominion of sin ; the ignorance, the darkness, the whole long train of moral 
and spiritual miseries attendant upon poverty. Over all these sources of affliction He asserts his 
control ; and illustrating the faithful description of the Gospel, that it is not in word but in power, 
he points to cases in which he had actually made the most obstinate maladies yield to his 
command ; had broken the bonds of death and the bars of the grave ; and diffused through barren 
wastes of dark and hopeless poverty the cheering and renovating light of heaven. For the liuman 
heart to be offended at the purest holiness and humanity, betokens a loss of every principle 
through which the Spirit of God miglit shed its benign influence on the soul ; and were it not 
that he acts by his own will, and not according to the foregoing desires of man, the first rejection 
of Christ's appeal to the evidence of his truth would be the last. But instead of uttering the 
fearful sentence which might have been expected, he alludes to the happiness of those who receive 
him, rather than to the fate of the corrupt and blinded unbeliever. " Blessed is he whosoever 
shall not be offended in me :"' blessed, because of the righteousness imputed to faith ; blessed, 
because of the union thereby effected with the best and holiest of beings ; blessed, because of the 
assurance which is thence obtained of help and consolation in the hour of trouble; blessed, 
because thereby we are enabled to exclaim, " O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy 
victory ?" blessed, because, however poor and desolate we may be in this world, we have the 
consciousness of being possessors of great dignity and wealth in that which is to come. The 
testimony which Jesus bore to the faithfulness of his forerunner was powerful and impressive. He 
had performed the duties of his office witli a self-denying grandeur of purpose that placed him at 
the head of all who had hitherto suffered in the cause of truth and holiness ; while his know- 
ledge of the object for which he had been raised up, and the dignity truly belonging to his office 
as the precursor of the Messiah, invested his character and person with the sublimest attributes 
ever yet enjoyed by a human minister of God. 



73 



L 



The Fourth Sunday in Advent. 









The Collect. 

LORD, raise up (we pray thee) thy 
power, and come among us, and 
with great might succour us ; that 
whereas, through our sins and wick- 
edness, we are sore let and hindered 
in running the race that is set be- 
fore us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily 
help and deliver us ; through the satisfaction of thy 
Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost 
be honour and glory, world without end. Amen. 



'J'he Collect.— The expectation of some great event fills the heart with awe,— and it desires a 
strength and steadfastness not naturally possessed. Guided by the offices of the Church to con- 
template the progress of spiritual events as actual, we stand now on the eve of that mightiest of 
occurrences — the first manifestation of the Son of God ! Still carried forward by faith, we behold 
him preparing for judgment ; and in the deep consciousness of uriworthiness, — in the sad assurance 
that hitherto we have not made due use of the means of grace,' — we pray, in language strongly 
expressive of fear, mingling with love, for the help of that uiight which alone can succour and 
deliver us, ' And happy are we if these prayers be heard. When the power of the Lord is present 
to save, who can hinder us from triumphing over our enemies ? The weakness of sin is then over- 
come by the strength of righteousness; and the accusations of the adversary are answered by the 
Judge himself. 

74 



THE FOUETH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 



he Epistle, Phil. iv. 4. 

EJOICE in the Lord alway, and 
again I say, Eejoice, Let your mo- 
deration be known unto all men. 
The Lord is at hand. Be careful 
for nothing : but in every thing, by 
prayer and supphcation with thanks- 
giving, let your requests be made 
known unto God. And the peace of 
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your 
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

The Gospel St. John i. 19. 

HIS is the record of John, when the 
Jews sent Priests and Levites from 
Jerusalem to ask him. Who art thou? 
And he confessed, and denied not ; 
but confessed, I am not the Christ. 
And they asked him. What then? 
Art thou Elias ? And he saith, I am 
not. Art thou that Prophet ? And 

The Epistle. — When most humbled, — most earnestly impressed with convictions of helpless- 
ness—even then may the Christian find Scripture exhorting him to hope and gladness. "When 
I am weak then am I strong," becomes, therefore, the accustomed language of the believer. He 
would only tremble at the looked-for coming of Christ were he depending on himself ; but trusting 
as he does to the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, he is careful for nothing, that is,— is not 
depressed,— is not curiously anxious about any thing, — but rejoices in the Lord, with a " peace 
which passeth understanding." 

The Gospel. — Distinct prophetic communications ceased with Malachi ; and the Jews did 
not expect the appearance of any other prophet till the days of the Messiah. " I will send you 
Elijah," said Malachi : the Septuagint translators added, "the Thesbite,"— an addition to which 
has been attributed the expectation of the Jews that Elijah, or Elias, would appear in person. 
John was expressly raised by God to be the forerunner of Christ. His miraculous conception, — 
his birth of a sacerdotal race,— deserve especial remark. He was sent by God, and was thus both 
a prophet and an apostle. His rare endowments attracted general attention ; and there were cir- 
cumstances in his teaching calculated to remove most of the Jewish prejudices. He came in the 
character of those ancient seers and teachers of Israel, the memory of whose virtues and profound 
wisdom still haunted the minds of the people. They heard him asserting the dignity of God's law, 
but propounding no new doctrine : he called them to repentance, but not to the rejecting of any 
old-established rite or custom. Baptism was a rite long in use among the J ews ; it was employed 
at the admission of proselytes ; and the numerous washings were but illustrations of the principle 
of purification indicated in the baptism of John. His baptism, indeed, was the very perfection of 

75 ^ ' L 2 





THE FOUETH SUNDAY IX ADVENT. 



lie answered, No. Then said they unto him. Who art 
thou ? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. 
What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of 
one crying in the wilderness, ]\Iake straight the way of 
the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which 
were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, 
and said unto him. Why baptizest thou then, if thou be 
not that Christ, nor EHas, neither that Prophet? John 
answered them, saying, I baptize with water : but there 
standeth one among you, whom ye know not : He it is 
who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's 
latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were 
done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was bap- 
tizing. 

a legal ceremony, sealing repentance outwardly ; but it could not cleanse ; or, if it did, it was as 
the blood of sacrifices, which owed its etficacy to an imputed holiness. 

Lightfoot quotes passages from the Eabbinical writings, which show that tlie Messiah was 
looked for as a cleanser of the people, and hence the question, " my baptizest thou then, if thou 
• be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" John sealed by his baptism the tow,— the 
promise of repentance : his baptism washed the polluted heart, but did not ensure the quickening 
of the soul : it was the sign of changed desires and resolves ; but not " the laver of regeneration :" 
it took away but did not impart : it prepared and humbled, but could not satisfy, restore, illu- 
minate. This the Baptist plainly declared, and in his use and limitation of the rite which he 
employed he manifested in the most striking manner the ti-ue nature of his office. Had he em- 
ployed no outward sign, he could not have been so well understood by people long accustomed to 
emblematical rites ; and what sign could be better adapted to his purpose than tliat which was 
deemed essential to the preparation of eveiwthing for the use of those who regarded themselves as 
holy ? As Chi-lsfs word tui-ned the water into wine, so did the prophet's looking to his love, as the 
lamb of God, change the waters of Bethabara into a pm-ifying stream, more efficacious to the suffer- 
ing consciences of sinners than all the sanguinary cm-rents which were poured from the altar of 
sacrifice. His baptism formed a rite, comprehending, and, in some measure, spiritualizing the 
ancient methods of sanctifying repentance ; and was, therefore, intermediate between the sacrifices 
and the letter of the Law, and the pure and all-sufficient spirituality of the Gospel. Everything 
done before Christ was by signs. Under Christ, signs become realities. The water of baptism is 
poured upon the head, and grace is poured into the heart ;— the bread and the wine are received, 
and Christ's body and blood refresh the soul : the single condition requii-ed to render them so 
is, that there be faith in the recipient ; without which he is not under Christ, — he is not near him, — 
he has not the species of life or being on which the grace of the Gospel operates. The privileges 
enjoyed by the members of the Christian Church will appear in their just degree of importance 
when viewed in comparison with those granted by earlier disiDensations. Abraham's happiness 
and glory consisted in promises only to be fulfilled in his posterity. He rejoiced at the prospect 
of good, but it was hope only which filled his heart with gladness. Under the Law, Divine justice 
permitted but rare manifestations of the everiasting glory which pertain to regenerated spirits. We 
already enjoy the realized promises made to the fathers in many of the particulars most essential 
to our comfort. The seal of redemption being upon us, the heirship is certain, and the prospect of 
such an inheritance is of infinitely greater and more substantial worth than the grandest of present 
possessions. . 



76 



The Nativity of our Lord^ or the Birthday of CHRIST^ 
commonly called Christmas-day. 




The Collect. 

LMIGHTY God, who hast given us 
thy only-begotten Son to take our na- 
ture upon hhn, and as at this time to 
be bom of a pure Virgin ; Grant that 
we being regenerate, and made thy 
children by adoption and grace, may 
daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit ; through the 
same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth 
with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world 
without end. Amen. 



The Collect— The day of the Nativity is the parent of all other religions festivals ; and they 
who have best apprehended by faith, and kept with holiness, the solemnities of tLat day, are best 
prepared to contemplate the mysteries of the succeeding seasons of grace. In the Birth of Christ 
we behold Divine love humbling even Divinity to fulfil its purposes. The birth of the Son of God 
in the flesh was, as it were, a regeneration from glory to lowliness and suffering. In the regenera- 
tion for which we now pray, and for which tlie Gospel alone has taught us to look, and that through 
Christ, we are born again from sin and misery, to the hope of an everlasting inlieritance. This 
Collect was first published in 1549. 

- 77 



CHEISTMAS-DAY. 




The Epistle. Heb. i, 1. 

OD, who, at sundry tunes and in 
divers manners, spake in time past 
unto the fathers by the prophets, 
hath in these last days spoken unto 
us by his Son, w^hom he hath ap- 
pointed heir of all things, by whom 
also he made the worlds ; who being 
^ the brightness of his glory, and the 
express image of his person, and upholding all things by 
the word of his power, when he had by himself purged 
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on 
high ; being made so much better than the angels, as he 
hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than 
they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time. 
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ? And 
again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a 
Son ? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten 
into the world, he saith. And let all the angels of God 
w^orship him. And of the angels he saith. Who maketh 
his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But 
unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, God, is for ever 
and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of 
thy kingdom : Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated 
iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed 
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, 
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of 
the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands : 
they shall perish, but thou remainest ; and they all shall 
wax old as doth a garment ; and as a vesture shalt thou 
fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou art the 
same, and thy years shall not fail. 

The Epistle.— In this sublime passage the glory of the Saviour shines forth in unclouded lusti-e, 
teaching us to adore the wonderful goodness of God, speaking to us by such a messenger. The 
Divinity of Christ is asserted in the language of the Holy Spirit, revealing the counsels of the 
Father and the Son from the beginning. Creation is ascribed to Him as the brightness of God's 
glory —"the, express image of his person f the inheritance of all things is given to him as the 
lovmg Guardian, Kedeemer, and Mediator of the universe. He sits on the everlasting throne, 
creating ;— he descends, and hangs on the Cross, redeeming ;— and he returns to uphold all things, 
not as before, by his divine power only, but by the merits ascribed to his sufferings and his love. 
78 



CHRISTMAS-DAY. 




The Gospel. St. John i. 1. 

N the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. The same was in 
the beginning with God. All things 
were made by hmi ; and without him 
was not any thing made that was 
made. In him was life, and the life 
was the light of men. A nd the hght 
shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it 
not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was 
John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of 
the light, that aU men through him might beheve. He 
was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that 
hght. That was the true light, which lighteth every man 
that Cometh into the world. He was in the world, and 
the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to 
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his 
Name : which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the wiU of man, but of God. And the 
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we be- 
held his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the 
Father) full of grace and truth. 

The Gospel.—" In the beginning," says Moses, " God created the heaven and the earth," " In 
the beginning," saysthe Evangelist, "was the Word." By the beginning isto be understood the 
commencement of the system of Nature ;-the first movement in the newly-arranged mass ot 
matter ;-the first breathing in the forms which life animated ;- the first stirrings of thought in 
whatever had a soul and spirit. But then already had the Word-being, power, and glory. He 
began not to exist ; for a beginning belongs only to time, which had its origm with the revolutions 
of created Nature. " He is before all things "-Coloss. i. 17. And he himself speaks of " the 
glory which he had with the Father before the world was."— John xvii. 5. The appellation given 
to him of " the Word " is peculiarly descriptive of his nature and oflaces, and was consecrated by 
ancient usage. It answers closer than any other name to that which is said of Him as " the express 
image," or character, "of his person;" and, " by the word of the Lord were the heavens made," 
connects the creating power with the nature so ascribed to Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
By his everlasting and infinite wisdom as " the Word," he becomes to his people " the true light," 
and " the light which ligliteth every man ;" and, by his Incarnation as the Word, he becometh 
"righteousness and sanctification " to all who receive him as a Saviour. How full, how clear 
and^'glorious are the announcements thus made of the suflrciency of the plan of grace, introduced 
and established by Him "in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily !" 
79 



Saint Stephens Day. 




The Collect. 

EANT, Lord, that, in all our suf- 
ferings here upon earth for the testi- 
mony of thy truth, we may stedfastly 
look up to heaven, and by faith behold 
the glory that shall be revealed ; and, 
being filled with the holy Ghost, may 



learn to love and bless our persecutors by the ex- 
. \ ample of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed 
\j for his murderers to thee, blessed Jesus, who 
standest at the right hand of God to succour all those 
that suffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. 
A7ne7i, 

IF Then shall follow the Colled of the Nativity, which shall be said continually unto 

New-year's Eve. 

The Collect.— It is reasonably conjectured that the commemoration of St. Stephen follows 
immediately the feast of the Nativity, from his martyrdom having been, as it were, the first fruits 
of evangelical holiness and suffering on the altar of Christ. The Collect for this day and that for 
" The Innocents " were added at tlie Restoration. It instructs us to ask for that faith which is the 
best consolation and support in all sufferings, as well as the sole guide to the Cross on which, as 
well as by which, alone we can be made righteous in the sight of God 
80 



SAINT STEPHEN'S DAY. 



Fo7^ the Epistle. Acts vii. 55. 

TEPHEN, being full of the Holy 
Ghost, looked up stedfastly mto 
heaven, and saw the glory of God, 
and Jesus standmg on the right 
hand of God, and said. Behold, I 
see the heavens opened, and the Son 
of man standing on the right hand 
of God. Then they cried out with 
a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him 
with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned 
him : and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young 
mans feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned 
Stephen, calling upon God, and saying. Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud 
voice. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when 
he had said this, he fell asleep. 

The Gospel St. Matth. xxiii. 34. 

EHOLD, I send unto you prophets, 
and wise men and scribes ; and some 
of them ye shall kill and crucify; 
and some of them shall ye scourge 
in your synagogues, and persecute 
them from city to city; that upon you 
may come all the righteous blood 
shed upon the earth, from the blood 

The Epistle. — The portion of Scripture chosen in place of a passage from tJie Epistles, pathe- 
tically shows how pure and gentle a spirit reigned supreme in the heart of the first martyr. His 
resignation was a type of that which gives grace to the holiness of every follower of Christ — the 
blind rage of his persecutors, — the image of that which ever prevails in the world when rebuked 
for its sins and follies. 

The Gospel. — It is characteristic of the teaching of our Lord that he, on all occasions, fore- 
warned his followers, that he called them not to ease and comfort, but to suffering. The early 
history of the Church proves the truth of his words by the sufferings of successive generations of 
believers. Dignity in the Chui'ch of Christ entitled its possessor to the right of suffering for his 
sake. This was the faith of tlie primitive times. "Thou shalt be baptized with the baptism 
wherewith I am baptized " had become, to the apprehension of spiritual believers, as a promise 
rather than a warning. They felt that to bear the cross was to win a crown ; and gratitude and 
love urging them forward in the same path as the hope of glory, the example of the devout Stephen 
81 M 





SAINT STEPHEN'S DAY. 



of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of 
Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the 
altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall 
come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which 
are sent unto thee ; how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold your house 
is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you. Ye shall 
not see me henceforth, till ye shall say. Blessed is he that 
Cometh in the name of the Lord. Amen. 

was followed by a band of martyrs such as the world had never seen ; sucli as no system but the 
Gospel could ever produce. The conduct and language of Stephen are as free from enthusiasm 
as they are redolent of holiness. He neither declaimed nor rebuked, but died as they only can 
die, who feel that they are permitted and invited to resign their souls unto God. 

Christ had endeavoured to convince the Jews of their impiety and danger. He had spoken the 
purest language of wisdom ; had manifested a power which could be traced to God alone ; and he 
bore in his sacred lineaments the deep and unchangeable likeness of the Messiah of the prophets. 
God, who in times past spoke by those anointed messengers of his will, now spoke by his Son; and 
had the generation to which he was sent given heed to his words, there would have been no fur- 
ther necessity for Divine interference. His rejection proved the fatal obstinacy of sin ; but God's 
long-suffering was not yet worn out. He mercifully continued to send messenger after messenger 
to his abandoned people. Apostles and evangelists were rejected as prophets before had been ; 
and the nation was left to its fate. Forty years after this proj>hecy was delivered, Jerusalem fell 
beneath the power of the enemy. Its house was left desolate; and the wide circuit of its strength 
and splendour became a heap of ruins. Commentators are divided in opinion respecting the Zacha- 
rias alluded to by our Lord. The prophet designated in the Old Testament as the son of Barachias 
might be meant ; but the sutFerer was more probably the Zacharias spoken of 2 Chron. xxiv, 20, 21. 

The affectionate exclamation of Jesus over the sentenced city ought to convince mankind, that 
whenever calamities happen, as ordered by the judgment of God, they are the consequence of 
obstinate wickedness. He might allow them to pursue their course without any other warning 
than that which the natural conscience gives, and no charge of injustice could be made if He 
punished them after that warning had been long and presumptuously despised. But his mercy is 
as vast in its plans, as various in its resources, as his wisdom or his power. The guilty fall not 
till every element of heavenly goodness has tried the heart in vain. This is proved by every 
event in the history of Jerusalem. It was there that the holiness of God manifested itself in 
visible glory ; that the law spoke from its own consecrated oracles; and that the purifying blood 
of sacrifices flowed in unceasing streams. But there it was that pride and rapine had their birth ; 
that even idolatry stirred up men's hearts to rebellion ; and that while simple faith dared scarcely 
show its face, superstition and legal confidence could boast of their admission to the highest places 
of the state. Horrible as was this abuse of His goodness in the land which He had peculiarly 
favoured, God continued His mercy, daily calling the offenders to repentance, assuring them of 
forgiveness, and offering them His blessing. By a bhndness the most remarkable that has ever 
fallen upon a nation, His grace was rejected. Jerusalem- preferred the inveutions of men to the 
counsels of the Holy Spirit ; believed the frantic cries of dark fanatics rather than the solemn 
warnings, of their ancient prophets ; and refusing the shelter offered by the outspread wings of 
Jehovah, rushed blindly upon infamy and destruction. 



82 



Saint John the Evangelists Day. 




The Collect, 

ERCIFUL Lord, 
we beseech thee 
to cast thy bright 
beams of hght upon 
thy Church, that it 
being enhghtened 
by the doctrine of 
thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist 
Saint John may so wall^ in the light 
of thy truth, that it may at length 
attain to the light of everlasting 
life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 



The Collect. — The reason assigned for the arrangement 
which places St. John's Day so near that of the iSTativity is de- 
rived from what is recorded of his loving attachment to Christ, 
above that of all the other disciples. Few of the Collects are 
more beautiful than this. It instructs us to seek light from the 
source of light ; to ask for it as those who desire by its assistance, tirst, to find the truth ; then 
to walk according to its uninfluenced dictation in this world ; and at last, by the same guidance, 
to be able to reach the gates of heaven, — the joy of the world to come. Holiness changes the 
nature of man, and imbues the whole being, — making him, in the significant language of the 
Scriptures, a new creature. And there is the furnishing of this regenerated being with his joroper 
qualities ; and as the furnitm-e of a poor ruined tenement would ill become the stately mansion 
which may be built upon its site, or as the beggar, transformed by some event into a man of rank 
and wealth, would not think of retaining the miserable clothing of his poverty, — so as little could 
they who are changed by the power of the heavenly Spirit, and endowed with grander principles 
of being, be contented with the elements of knowledge or wisdom which belong to the mere crea- 
ture. They aspire instinctively to the possession of truth and wisdom in their higher forms and 
character ; — they look for a more intimate communion with them both than has hitherto been 
enjoyed by the world. But man is not to be wrought upon like senseless matter. The Author 
of his being gave him a different nature. It was not by a mere word— a simple command— that 
he could be made holy. In man, a free spirit has to be acted upon according to the natm-e of that 
w^hich is spiritual and that which is free. Hence the necessity of the co-operation of the Holy 
Spirit in the mighty work of Salvation. Tliat which is spiritual must be fed, guided, enlightened, 
glorified by the Spirit. The light, the beams of which are shed with an invigorating influence 
upon the true Church of Christ, is the living wisdom of that Spirit. In His light we see liglit : in 
that light may the Church and its members evermore walk ! 

8c3 



SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST'S DAY. 



The Epistle. 1 St. John i. I. 




HAT Avliich was from the beginning, 
which we have heard, which we have 
seen with our eyes, which we have 
looked npon, and our hands have 
handled of the Word of Life ; (for the 
life was manifested, and we have 
seen it, and bear witness, and shew 



unto you that eternal life, Avhich was 
Avith the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That 
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that 
ye also may have fellowship with us ; and truly our 
fellowship is with the Father, and with his son Jesus 
Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your 
joy may be full. This then is the message which we have 
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, 
and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have 
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do 
not the truth : but if we walk in the light, as he is in the 
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we 
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the 
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all 
unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we 
make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

The Epistle. — St. John's Epistles are tlie counterpart of his Gospel. Ever engaged in devout 
recollections of his Master, and exalted by the illuminating strength of the Spirit, he delighted to 
proclaim the subliraest revelations of Heaven. Permitted to contemplate mysteries veiled from 
other eyes, he seemed to enjoy the peculiar privilege of love to speak with more freedom than is 
allowed to either faith or knowledge. His expressions are the language of a spirit which appre- 
hends what it beholds by love. The essential life, the hidden mystery of godliness, acknowledged 
by others to exist, because taught by faith, or convinced by evidence, had to him been made visible 
and palpable. His senses, quickened and spiritualized, had aided him in the apprehension of the 
trutl) ; his wliole being had opened itself to the benign influences of manifested Divinity ; and the 
truth thus learnt, thus substantially received, it was the corresponding desire of pure benevolence 
to make knjown to the world. "That wliicli we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that 
ye also may have fellowsliip with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Fatlier, and with his 
Son Jesus Clirist." A part of the fifteenth chapter of Ecclesiasticus was originally inserted for 
the Epistle. It was wiselv changed at the revisal of the Liturgy. 
84 



SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST'S DAY. 



The Gospel. St. John xxi. 19. 




ESUS said unto Peter, Follow me. 
Then Peter, turmns about, seeth the 
disciple whom Jesus loved following ; 
which also leaned on his breast at 
supper, and said, Lord, which is he 
that betrayeth thee ? Peter, seeing 
him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what 
shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto 



him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad 
among the brethren, That that disciple should not die: 
yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die ; but, If I 
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? This 
is the disciple wiiich testifieth of these things, and wrote 
these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, 
the which if they should be written every one, 1 suppose 
that even the world itself could not contain the books that 
should be written. 

The Gospel.—" The disciple whom Jesus loved" is the appellation by which John designated 
himself; and there is no title after which the Christian ought to aspire so earnestly as after this. 
Apostles, Evangelists, the overseers of Christ's flock, even Angels themselves, enjoy these names 
but in reference to others ; and however venerable their digTxity, might have been compelled to ex- 
change it for shame and sorrow. But, " The disciple whom Jesus loveth," is a title which implies 
the Mlest assurance of personal happiness and perfection. It exalts its possessor far above the 
world; renders hun superior to tune and change; inspii-es him with holy rapture when mechtating 
on the glory of God, and enables him to look for the coming of Chi-ist as the day when, a child of 
the Most High, he shaU be admitted into the inheritance of an everlasting kingdom. WMle the 
disciples were yet in a state of uncertainty respecting the intentions or power of theii- Master, they 
interpreted his^aU^Asions in the way which best suited tlieir own preconceptions. Thus when he 
spoke of John s waiting tiU he should come, they looked forward to the consiunmat^on of aU thmgs 
by the victoiy over death ; but lie referred only to his coming in judgment against Jerusalem; and 
as St. John lived till after that event, the prophecy was literaUy fidfiUed, and in the manner in 
Avhich we find it was viewed by the Apostle himself. Peter obeyed the command, and early fol- 
lowed his lord, bemg put to death about the year 65 ; while John lived above thnty years after, 
surviving, it is believed, all his fellow Apostles. 



85 



The Innocents Day, 




ALMIGHTY God, who out of the 
mouths of babes and suckhngs hast 
ordained strength, and madest in- 
fants to glorify thee by their deaths ; 
Mortify and kill all vices in us, and 
so strengthen us by thy grace, that 
I by the innocency of our lives, and constancy of our 
I' faith even unto death, we may glorify thy holy Name ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 

The Collect.— This day was kept in the earliest ages of the Church as caUing pecuHarly for 
holy meditation. The children of Bethlehem dying in theh innocency were regarded as martyrs 
in tlie cause of the Lamb of God. They were sacrificed to the jealousy which reigns supreme in 
the world ; but their angels always behold the face of their Father which is in heaven ; and, like 
all others v;'ho siiffer for Chrisfs sake, the losing of their lives in this world was their great and 
everlasimg gam. "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye sliall in nowise 
enter the kingdom of heaven." The graces of purity, of simple tmth and resignation, the prime 
vn-tues ot the Christian character, were typically exemplified in the fate of the Innocents. Hence 
they were called " the first-fruits of martyrdom ;" " a tender flock of sacrifices playing innocently 
before the altar with their crosMis and garlands " " 
86 



THE INNOCENTS' DAY. 



For the Epistle. Eev. xiv. 1. 




LOOKED, and lo, a Lamb stood on 
tlie Mount Sion, and with him an hun- 
dred forty and four thousand, having 
his Father's Name written in their 
foreheads. And 1 heard a voice from 
lieaven, as the voice of many waters, 
and as the voice of a great thunder: 



and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps : 
and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, 
and before the four beasts, and the elders ; and no man 
could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four 
thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These 
are they which were not defiled with women, for they are 
virgins : these are they which follow^ the Lamb whither- 
soever he goeth : these were redeemed from among men, 
being the first-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb. And in 
their mouth was found no guile : for they are without fault 
before the throne of God. 



The Epistle— The portion of the Eevelation read for the Epistle describes the triumph of 
Innocence and Truth in their final exaltation over the powers of darkness. God's chosen ones, 
mystically numbered, are assembled round the throne of the Lamb. For the sad lamentations of 
afflicted hearts, they now hear the sweet harpings of angehc hosts ; for the sighs of resignation, 
they sing theii- new song before the thi'one ; and for the emblems of deepest humiliation and suf- 
fering, they are surrounded with the splendom- and glories of eternal sovereignty. Thus it is that 
the foundations of true honom- are laid m simplicity ; tliat the fruits of the tree of life are watered 
with tears and blood, poured forth because of sin, and the people of God piuified in the fm-nace 
of affliction, that tliey may be fit to endure the otherwise insupportable brightness of Jehovah's 
holiness. In the early ages, the memory of martyrs was cherished by the Church as proper, not 
only to quicken the zeal of its members, but to exalt their affections, and give a new assurance to 
their hopes. The power of the Holy Spirit was triumphant in their patient endurance of suffering. 
It manifestly raised humanity above every standard by which it bad before been measured ; and 
while the mind contemplated these its wonder-working doings, and the heart grew warm with holy 
sympathy, the character of faith advanced to its completeness. But the fervour of natural feeling 
at length took the place of the sublimer spiritual principle. In commemorating the holiness of 
mai-tyrs, the pure doctrines of the Cross were mingled with human fancies ; and it became the 
duty of the Cliurch to return to the simplicity of the days when it was deemed sufficient to speak 
of martyrs in the plain language which ascribed their holiness to Christ, and their patience to his 
grace. Still we have not lost the nomishment of love and zeal by this abridgment of the festivals 
of martyrs. While the spiritual eye can see and the ear imderstand the manifestations of God's 
love for his people, the memoiy of witnesses to the truth will never cease to operate with gladden- 
ing influence on the heart. 



87 



THE INNOCENTS' DAY. 



The Gospel. St. Mattli. ii. 13. 




HE Angel of the Lord appearetli to 
J oseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and 
take the young child and his mother, 
and flee into Egypt, and be thou there 
until I bring thee word; for Herod 
will seek the young child to destroy 



him. When he arose, he took the 
yomig child and his mother by night, and departed into 
Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod ; that it 
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 
prophet, saying. Out of Egypt have I called my Son. 
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the 
wise men, was exceeding wroth; and sent forth, and 
slew aU the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all 
the coasts thereof, fi'om two years old and under, accord- 
ing to the time which he had diligently enquired of the 
mse men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by 
Jeremy the prophet, saying. In Kama was there a voice 
heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning, 
Rachel weepmg for her children, and would not be com- 
forted, because they are not. 



The Gospel.— It was a remarkable interference of Divine Providence which thus carried Jesus 
into the countiy which had been the cradle of the chosen race. There Israel passed his infancy 
in bondage : and there Jesus, as a fugitive, passed the early days of childhood. The rage of 
Herod was part of tlie punishment which every wicked man experiences when he in vain endea- 
vours to tm-n the wisdom of the wise to his own purposes. But it added to the sorrow of the 
sinful and the stricken people. Jeremiah spoke at first of the miseries of an approaching cap- 
tivity. Eachels tomb was near Pama, a small town in the tiibe of Benjamin, and the prophet 
represents her, as a mother of Israel, mourning over the mise]ies of her children. Jer. xxxi. 15. 
The number of childi'en who are said to have perished has been ditierently comijuted, but the 
most probable conjecture fixes it at about fifty. 



88 



The Sunday after Christmas-Day. 




LMIGHTY God, Avho hast given 
us thy only-begotten Son to take our 
nature upon him, and as at this time 
to be born of a pure Virgin ; Grant 
that we being regenerate, and made 
thy children by adoption and grace, 
may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit ; through 
the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, 
world without end. Amen. 



The Collect. — The seven days immediately succeeding the principal festivals were observed 
in the early churches, and the octave or eighth day had a service corresponding to that of the 
festival. On these days the same Collect continued to be read ; and hence the repetition of that 
for the "Nativity on the following Sunday. In the original service, that is as it stood before the 
compiling of the reformed hturgy, the Gospel of the day was tlje 2nd Chapter of Luke, fron? 
verse 33 to verse 41. The whole of the first of Matthew was inserted in tlie early editions of tJie 
prayer-book. 

89 ~ N 



THE SUNDAY AFTEK CHEISTMAS-DAY. 



The Epistle. Gal. iv. 1. 

OW I say, that the heir, as long as 
he is a child, difiereth nothing from 
a servant, though he be lord of all ; 
but is under tutors and governours, 
until the time appointed of the father. 
Even so we, when we Avere children, 
were in bondage under the elements 
of the world : but when the fulness 
of the time was come, God sent forth -his Son, made of a 
woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were 
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Where- 
fore thou art no more a servant, but a son ; and if a son, 
then an heir of God through Christ. 

The Epistle. — A being like man, left to the capricious influence of liis passions, or, still worse, 
to the dominion of acknowledged corruption, finds in this imaginary liberty the very bane of his 
existence. It is intinitely better, therefore, that he should be placed by his Creator under any 
system of law, than that he should be left to himself. The law of Moses was given to convince 
men of sin ; to prove the justice of God in withdrawing his primary gifts and blessings, and yet 
to furnish tliose who sighed after a better state of things with some guide towards the knowledge 
of holiness. With all tlie sad penalties, therefore, attached to the breaking of this law, and limited 
as it was in the communication of spiritual principles, it was the best gift which man had received 
since the fall. How vast, then, is the treasure bestowed by the Gospel ! How benign in power : 
how infinite in gracious consequences, that plan of grace, which brings us, by the methods of 
mercy, under subjection to a law perfect as unshadowed truth ; bright and beautiful as heavenly 
love ! The obedience of a servant where God is the Master is fruitful of good ; how much more 
then the obedience of sons who owe their life to his own regenerating Spirit ! The evidence of 
Cln-istianity is proportionable to the importance of the system. But no mere outward proofs could 
have made it so. It is with the heart alone we can really believe. Faith is a spiritual grace ; and 
though embracing all the testimonies of reason, and giving due weight to every sensible manifesta- 
tion of the truth of things, it cannot itself be embraced or comprehended by reason, or acknowledge 
subjection to the evidence of sight. The greatest blessing conferred by the system, is the highest 
possible proof of its truth. If, on receiving the Gospel, we feel strengthened for the pursuit of 
virtue and wisdom by a power new to our nature ; — if a fountain of thought be opened in our minds, 
whicli takes not its rise either from the teaching or the experience of the world ;— and both in mind 
and heart, we are tlius filled with principles hitlierto unknown, but as dignified as they are benign ; 
— have we not hereby the best of all possible arguments for the truth of our Eeligion, and its con- 
nexion with the Source of life ? And the gift of that Spirit which teaches us to cry, " Abba, 
Fatlier !" is ever followed by these results, confirming the promise that, doing the will of God, we 
shall know the truth of His Word. " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, 
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." John vii. 17 ; and the Comforter and the 
Sanctifier is he whose grand office it is to " teach all things." John xiv. 26. 




90 



THE SUNDAY AFTEE CHRISTMAS-DAY. 



The Gospel St. Matth. i, 18. 




HE birth of Jesus Christ was on this 
wise : When as his mother Mary was 
espoused to Joseph, before they came 
together she was found with child of 
the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her 
husband, being a just man, and not 
wilhng to make her a publick ex- 
ample, was minded to put her away 
privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, 
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, 
saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto 
thee Mary thy wife ; for that which is conceived in her is 
of the Holy Ghost : And she shall bring forth a Son, and 
thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his 
people from their sins. (Now all this was done, that it 
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 
prophet, saying. Behold, a Virgin shall be with child, and 
shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name Em- 
manuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.) Then 
Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the 
Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife ; and 
knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son : 
and he called his name Jesus. 



The Gospel. — Christ's divinity, as the Word, is the subject of the Gospel for Christmas-Day. 
His conception by the Spirit, his birth of a woman, is the subject of the present. A devout mind 
will consider witli profound delight the incidents here related. Familiar as they are in the letter, 
their deep spiritual meaning is ever fresh, as the waters of a running brook which, however often 
the weary traveller seeks it, supplies liim at each return with water newly sprung from the source. 
" Thou shalt call his name Jesus ;" and, " He called his name Jesus," furnishes of itself a subject 
for thought, which neither the mind nor the heart can exhaust. God designated his Son a Saviour : 
may we all, as readily as Joseph did, call him by the same name ; feel him to be so, and as such 
worship and obey him ! 



91 



The Circumcision of Christ. 




1 



thy 
Chr 



TAg Collect 
LMIGHTY God, who madest thv 
blessed Son to be circumcised, and 
obedient to the law for man ; Grant 
us the true chcumcision of the 
Spirit ; that, our hearts, and all our 
members, being mortified from all 
Idly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey 
blessed will ; through the same thy Son Jesus 
ist our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — ^Neither tlie Collect for tliis day, nor the portions of Scripture selected, ajopeared 
in the original Liturgy. The day itself does not appear to have been obsei-ved till about the tenth 
century ; but to those who view it aright it may be made serviceable by many important consider- 
ations. Christ submitted as an example merely to the baptism of John ; but it was absolutely 
necessar}' that he should be circumcised, since otherwise he could neither have fulfilled the law, 
nor redeemed from the curse of the law. If the day of his Nativity, then, is kept to awaken holy 
and tliankful meditation, so also for the same end may that of his Circumcision be observed. The 
spiritual application of the mystery is taught by the Collect, the substance of which is found in 
the words of St, Paul : — " Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and uot in the letter." — 
Eom. ii. 29. 

92 



THE CIECUMCISION OF CHEIST. 



The Epistle, Rom. iv. 8. 

LESSED is the man to whom the 
Lord mil not impute sin. Cometh 
this blessedness then upon the cir- 
cumcision only, or upon the uncir- 
cumcision also ? For we say, that 
faith was reckoned to Abraham for 
righteousness. How was it then 
reckoned ? when he was in circum- 
cision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision, but 
in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumi- 
cision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he 
had yet being uncircumcised ; that he might be the father 
of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised ; 
that righteousness might be imputed unto them also : 
And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the 
circumcision only, but also w^alk in the steps of that faith 
of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircum- 
cised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the 
world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the 
law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they 
which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the 
promise made of none effect. 

The Epistle.— St. Paul in tliis Epistle unfolds the whole legal mystery of Circumcision. As 
Abraham was circumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe, so was Christ 
circumcised that he might be their Saviour and their everlasting spiritual head. Both sealed 
the covenant of faith with blood, establishing thereby the righteousness of tl^e law, and the sure 
applications of a saving grace. As Abraham, moreover, was counted righteous because of Ms 
faith, before circmncision, which he received as the seal of a covenant that regarded posterity, so 
Christ, being positively and essentially righteous, was circumcised only in respect to others ; but 
he thereby became the Author of a legal righteousness, as he did by his sufferings and Holy Spirit 
afterwards become the Author of a true and perfect righteousness to as many as believe. We are 
heirs through the faith which applies this righteousness, and not by our obedience to the law, 
which was added, "because of offences." The New Covenant is introduced on the principle that 
it was utterly impossible for man to justify himself before God. But if it could be shown that 
perfect obedience miglit be rendered, and the justice of the Almighty bowed to acknowledge the 
rio-hteousness of man in his works, the offers made by the Gospel would either, on the one side, be 
inconsistent with the Divine holiness, or, on the other, would be inapplicable to tlie actual state of 
human nature, and the real circumstances of mankind. If the law could justify, the deatli of Christ 
would serve only to save those who, though able to keep the command, will iiot ; but he died to 
satisfy when none but he could satisfy, and to bring all to the obedience of love. 

93 




THE CIECUMCISION OF CHEIST. 



The Gospel St. Luke ii. 15. 

ND it came to pass, as the angels 

were gone away from them into 

heaven, the shepherds said one to 

another. Let us now go even unto 

Bethlehem, and see this thing which 

is come to pass, which the Lord hath 

made known unto us. And thev 
^ «/ 

came with haste, and found Mary 
and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when 
they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying 
which was told them concerning this child. And all they 
that heard it wondered at those things which were told 
them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, 
and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds re- 
turned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that 
they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And 
when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising 
of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so 
named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 

1[ Tlie same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve for every day after unto the 

Epiphany, 

The Gospel.— It was the general custom among the Jews to give a name at circumcision as 
we do at baptism. In the case of a grown person his name was usually changed, as he was con- 
sidered by this rite, which admitted him into fellowship with the people of God, to have become a 
new man. The imposition of the name of Jesus, or Saviour, connected with the circumcision of 
our Lord, deserves consideration. He became a deliverer not merely by his wisdom, by his power, 
by his intercessions, but by his blood. Instead of neglecting the days on which these mysteries 
are commemorated, how thankful ought we to be that our Church so carefully marks every point 
in the economy of grace,— every stage in the progress of the work of salvation ! The events in the 
life of Christ are substantially the Gospel. Studied aright, they lead us, with an interest to be 
derived from no other source, to the statements of doctrine in the writings of his Apostles. His 
Birth, Circumcision, Baptism, Temptation, and Crucifixion, are all texts on which the writers of 
Scripture have written dissertations according to the dictation of his own divine Spirit ; and then 
only is the Gospel received when, in the conversion of otir own nature into the likeness of his, we 
manifest the power both of his precepts and his example. The circumstances of the narrative are 
of themselves deeply impressive. Shepherds, in the calm repose of night, hear the voices of 
Heaven, and, believmg, find a Saviour who gives everlasting peace in the glorious light of God's 
love. 




94 



The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to 
the Gentiles. 




The Collect. 

GOD, 
who by 
the leacl- 
mg of a 
star didst 
manifest 
thy only- 
begotten 
Son to the Gentiles ; IMer- 
cifuUy grant, that we, 
which know thee now by 
faith, may after this life 
have the fruition of thy 
glorious Godhead; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen, 



The Collect.— TMs festival was early observed in the Ctech, and originally, according to 
the spirit of the times, with much outward solemnity. The word Epiphany means, a shimng 
upon, or Manifestation, and the feast was anciently considered as commemorative of the three- 
fold Manifestation of our Lord; by the appearance, that is, of the star; by the descent of the 
Holy Ghost, and the voice from heaven at his baptism ; and by his miracle of tui-nmg water 
into wme. The miracle of feeding the five thousand is also sometimes regarded as another degree 
in the Manifestation. Some of the fathers, ag-ain, treat the appearance of the star as the event 
whicli ought alone to be considered as the origin of this feast ; and oui- Church seems to have 
adopted their opinion, except that in the lessons there is an allusion to the other demonstrations of 
Christ's Messiahship. Many ancient writers speak of his baptism as the proper Epiphany, and 
this is the view of it taken generally by the eastern church, which reckoned this feast as one of the 
three periods especially set apart for the admission of converts to baptism. It was observed with 
Sabbatical reverence. The public games were suspended, and all public offices were closed on 
this day. Nor need we wonder at tlie feeling thus expressed, for what event can be more interest- 
ing to a thoughtful mind than the Manifestation of a Saviour to a ruined and benighted world? 
Let it be our constant endeavour to look for those displays of the Saviom- which concern the en- 
lio-btening of our own hearts, the sanctifying of our own souls. Have we seen the star in the East 
ourselves"? Have we felt the beaming of the Eedeemer-s love in the depths of our mmds and 
consciences ? 

95 



THE EPIPHANY. 



The Epistle. Eplies. iii. 1. 




OR this cause, 1 Paul, the prisoner 
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles; if 
ye have heard of the dispensation of 
the grace of God, which is given me 
to you-ward: How that by revela- 
tion he made known unto me the 
_ mystery (as I wrote afore in few 
words, whereby, when ye read, ye 
may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 
which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of 
men, as it is now revealed unto his holy Apostles and 
Prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be 
fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his 
promise in Christ, by the Gospel : whereof I was made a 
minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given 
unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, 
who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace 
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the un- 
searchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see 
what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the be- 
ginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created 
all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent, that now unto 
the principahties and powers in heavenly places might be 
known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, 
according to the eternal purpose which he purposed hi 
Christ J esus our Lord : In whom we have boldness and 
access with confidence by the faith of him. 

The Epistle.— Unwilling as the human heart is to give up any pretension to superiority, it is 
not surprising that a people, austere and proud as were the Jews, when losing sight of the Divine 
intentions, should look with jealousy on any proposal to share their privileges indiscriminately witli 
the world It required the bright sl.ining of a star to bring the first Gentile worshippers to the 
cradle of Christ ; it was necessary that tlie Holy Spirit should make a particular revelation of the 
design of tins Manifestation w])en the time arrived for the call of all men to tbe cross of Christ and 
the promise of the Gospel. TIic manifold wisdom of God was proved in the plan which rendered 
salvation possible to all ; the unsearchable riches of Christ are shown in the application of his 
mercy to whoever will receive it, whether lie be Jew or Gentile,— whetlier he be bond or free. Tliis 
truth IS evolved immediately from what we are taught in the preceding Epistle respectinr- the 
])romise made to Abraham. ° 

96 



THE EPIPHANY. 



The Gospel St. Matth. ii. 1. 

HEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem 
of Juctea, in the days of Herod the 
king, behold, there came wise men 
from the east to Jerusalem, saying, 
Where is he that is born King of the 
Jews ? for w^e have seen his star in 
the east, and are come to worship 
him. When Herod the king had 
heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem 
with him. And when he had gathered all the chief 
priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded 
of them, where Christ should be born. And they said 
unto him. In Bethlehem of Jud^:^a : for thus it is written 
by the prophet. And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, 
art not the least among the princes of J uda : for out of 
thee shall come a Governour that shall rule my people 
Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise 
men, enquired of them dihgently what time the star ap- 
peared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said. Go, 
and search diligently for the young child, and when ye 
have found him, bring me word again, that I may come 
and w-orship him also. When they had heard the king, 
they departed; and lo, the star which they saw in the 
east went before them, till it came and stood over where 
the young child was. When they saw the star, they re- 
joiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were 
come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary 
his mother, and fell down and worshipped him : and when 
they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him 
gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being 
warned of God in a dream that they should not return to 
Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 

The Gospel. — We learn from this Gospel the interesting particular, tliat it was the first repre- 
sentatives of the Gentile world who made known to Jerusalem and its monarch the bhth of the 
Messiah. Their offerings were evangehcal tokens and oblations ; not the legal ofierings prepared 
or fitted for a Jewish altar, but the offerings of the world at large,- the emblems of a more general 
thankfulness and love. For the prophecy .alluded to, see Micah v. 2. 

97 o 




The First Sunday after the Epiphany, 





The Collect, 
LORD, we beseech tliee mer- 
cifully to receive the pravers 
of thy people which call upon 
thee : and grant that they 
may both perceive and know 
what things they ought to do, 
and also may have grace and 
power faithfully to fulfil the 
-^P-'V^^ same; throug:h Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

\ "The Collect. — To have a cleai- uuderstandiDg of om- duty, to see plainly the 
'^\^^ path which leads to the fulfilment of our labours, and the attainment of the pro- 
mised reward, is the first desire of every intelligent miiid. If we add to the pos- 
session of this knowledge the enjoyment of ability and means to put it in practice, 
OTir happiness both in tliis world and the next will be fixed on the surest of all foundations. And 
for such a blessing it is that we pray in this Collect. Teach us, O Lord, that we may know our 
duty : Give us the grace whereby to perform it ! The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for all the 
►Sundays after Epiphanv, except the last, are the same as those in the SacramentaiT of Gre<^ory. 
98 



THE FIEST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY. 



om. 



xii. 1. 




Tlie Epistle. R 

BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by 
the mercies of God, that ye present 
your bodies a hving sacrifice, holy, ac- 
ceptable unto God, which is your 
reasonable service. And be not con- 
formed to this AYorld ; but be ye 
transformed by the renewing of your 
mind, that ye may prove what is that 
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I say, 
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is 
among you, not to think of himself more highly than he 
ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God 
hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we 
have many members in one body, and all members haA-e 
not the same office ; so we, being many, are one body in 
Christ, and every one members one of another. 




The Gospel, St. Luke ii. 41. 

OW his parents went to Jerusalem 
every year at the feast of the pass- 
over. And when he was twelve years 
old, they went up to Jerusalem, after 
the custom of the feast. And when 
they had fulfilled the clays, as they 
returned, the child Jesus tarried be- 
hind in Jerusalem ; and Joseph and 

The Epistle. — The exhortation, " Present your bodies a hving sacrifice unto God," and that of 
similar impoi-t, " Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," embrace the vast series of 
New Testament laws and precepts. The body offered to God is purified on the altar of sacrifice ; 
the mind opened to the grace of the Divine Spirit is renewed ; and thus the whole man is trans- 
formed into the image of Him who purchased him from sin and death for an everlasting possession. 
Nor is the change without its attendant evidence. " The good and acceptable and perfect will of 
God " is thereby proved ; for what can be his will, in respect to any of his creatures, but theh 
retaining or recovering perfection ? Or what is the nearest consequence to this but the happiness 
of the creatui-e thus rendered obedient to the will of the Universal Father ? The lesson which the 
Apostle draws from this doctiine is one of sincere humility ; so that while we are taught to rejoice 
in our exaltation through the power of holiness, we learn to keep down every rising feehng of pride 
or harshness which might oppose the interests of Christian brotherliood. 

The Gospel. —Little is recorded of the early days of our Lord ; but the Epiphany of his infancy 
meets, and blends with, the glory manifasting itself ia his youth. The incident here related is 



THE FIKST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY. 

his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to 
have been in the company, went a day's journey; and 
they sought him among their kinsfoll^ and acquaintance. 
And when they found him not, they turned back again to 
Jerusalenj, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after 
three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the 
midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them 
questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his 
understanding and answers. And when they saw him, 
they were amazed: and his mother said unto him. Son, 
why hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold, thy father and 
I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. 
How is it that ye sought me ? wist ye not that I must be 
about my Father's business? And they understood not 
the saying which he spake unto them. And he went 
down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject 
unto them : but his mother kept all these sayings in her 
heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in 
favour with God and man. 

highly interesting. It shows that the presence of the divine nature in Christ led him to commence 
the work of God, before the time appointed for the coming of his kmgdom, as Messiah. There 
was divme wisdom in his questions and answers ; and had not the darkness of sensual prejudice 
hmdered them from perceiving the truth, the wise men of Israel would have discovered in the 
wonderful reasonings of the boy of Nazareth the strongest proofs that he had his knowledge from 
heaven. The Star m the East, which guided the Magi to his humble cradle, shed not beams half 
so clear and bright as his own spirit now did; and had the Doctors of the Temple been awake 
and watchful, they would have followed him to his despised city and home, and there oifered him 
the best treasures of their nation, the gold, fraukincense, and myrrh of repentant and loving hearts. 
A beautiful illusti-ation of the sweet and gentle virtues which shtd so soft a light on the subhme 
peifectionsof Christ's character is afforded by the statement, "He went down with them, and 
came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." That mind, wldch already manifested powers 
grander than tlie endowments of the loftiest genius, was contented simply to put forth its might 
for a brief season, and then to screen itself from observation in the most obscure retreat. At 
Nazareth were no distinguished doctors of the law ; no influential Sadducces and Pharisees • no 
curious and admiring multitudes ; wisdom there had none to reverence it but the poor and simple, 
who might love it for its usefulness. Subject to his parents, Jesus exhibit( d in liis obedience the 
perfect concord which properly exists between the grandest powers of mind and soul and the simple 
vir ues of the heart. His greatness, his sublimity of nature, rendered him subject to his parents 
ana obedient to every law and precept of righteousness. Had he been less perfect, less exalted, 
or in the sinaliest degi-ee inferior to the Deity-comprehended man, we should probably have seen 
the weight of conscious grandeur overbalancing the motives to obedience and scorning the humility 
ot saibject.on. The power of Christ, and that only, can bring great minds into a uniform obedience 
to the simple duties of life and action. 



100 



The Second Sunday after the Epiphany. 




The Collect. 
LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
who dost govern all things in heaven 
and earth ; Mercifully hear the sup- 
plications of thy people, and grant 
us thy peace all the days of our 
life ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Ainen. 



The Collect.— God's government of heaven and eartli is founded on the laws of 
an uncliangeable righteousness. But mercy, truth, and justice, meet and rejoice in their 
union, as they walk and take sweet counsel together on the path which Christ has trodden, 
and along which he leads his people. Therefore it is that we dare ask of the Almighty and 
everlasting God ".peace all the days of our life." But the peace for which we pray is that which 
He alone can give. " Grant us thy peace." Suffering from anxieties engendered in the world, 
our only wish may be to have the burden lightened which presses most heavily for the moment ; 
afflicted with painful recollections of lost pleasiue, our chief desire may be to steep the heart in 
forgetfulness ; or, convinced by observation as well as experience of the changeableness of human 
affairs, we may only be anxious to obtain for ourselves a greater degree of calm and security than 
falls to the lot of others. But if we ask for peace with no higher thoughts than these, the object 
aimed at, low as it is, will never be reached. It is Divine peace only which can bestow rest, even 
when the removal of worldly anxieties may seem sufficient for the purpose ; which alone can 
soothe, even when the fountains of regret have only an earthly source, and would seem capable 
of being dried up by the return of prosperity ; or when, in the multiplying fears of a timid and 
calculating mind, the only thing apparently required is a promise that the good at present en- 
joyed shall be possessed to the end. In all cases, God ! to be made permanently tranquil, our 
prayer must be, " Grant us thy peace all the days of our life." 

101 



THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTEE THE EPIPHANY. 




21ie Epistle. Rom. xii. 6. 

AVING then gifts differing aecord- 
ing to the grace that is given to us, 
f whether prophecy, let us prophesy ac- 
I cording to the proportion of faith ; 
j or ministry, let us wait on our minis- 
I tering ; or he that teacheth, on teach- 
ing ; or he that exhorteth, on exhor- 
tation ; he that giveth, let him do it 
with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that 
sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without 
dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that 
which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with 
brotherly love, in honour preferring one another ; not 
slothful in business ; fervent in spirit ; serving the Lord ; 
rejoicing in hope ; patient in tribulation ; continuing 
instant in prayer ; distributing to the necessity of saints ; 
given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you ; 
bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, 
and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one 
towards another. Mind not high things, but condescend 
to men of low estate. 



The Epistle— Diligence in the works of our calling, simplicity in our principles and motives, 
sincerity in oui' conversation, love, humanity, a readiness to forgive all injuries, deep sympathy 
with the sorrowful, brotherly feeling, unfeigned humility, and all this combined with a fervent 
spirit, opposed alike to ignorance, indiiference, and sloth ;— the man who should truly possess 
these qualities as the elements of his character, would scarcely be refused the best praise which 
mankind can bestow. But such would be the features of every Christian's heart and conduct 
were he simply to act according to the dictates of his faith. The instruction is supplied which re- 
solves the light of that faith into all the varieties of precept and effective grace ; and the strength 
is offered which -is more than sufficient to raise the humblest spirit to the thankful comprehension 
of the mystery. It would be difBcult to find any subject for reflection more interesting than the 
harmony which exists between the plan and the precepts of the Gospel. The Son of God was mani- 
fested to take away sin, and he removed the power and the curse which attended it by his meritorious 
sufferings. But tliis was only the beginning of the work of love. The Eternal Spirit gives a new 
life to those who have been redeemed; and when we look at, and pry most diligently into, the con- 
sequences of the change, when we carefully trace the course and read the sentiments of the faith- 
ful believers 'in the system, we behold results which correspond to no other system ; effects which 
can be traced to no other cause than the power of God working men's salvation. The galaxy of 
Evangelical precepts contained in this Epistle nobly illustrates the confidence which the first teachers 
of the Gospel placed in its power and truth. They taught not as the Scribes, but with authority. 
It was not necessary, they considered, to'q^eak long and argumentatively on each separate duty of 
a holy life : the Gospel required a manifestation of the spring and working of universal holiness 
102 



THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTEE THE EPIPHANY. 



Tlie Gosjjel. St. Jolm ii. 1 . 




ND the third day there was a mar- 
riage in Caiia of Gahlee, and the 
mother of Jesus was there. And 
both Jesus was called, and his dis- 
ciples, to the marriage. And when 
they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus 
saith unto him, They have no wine. 
Jesus saith unto her. Woman, what 
have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His 
mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto 
vou, do it. And there were set there six water-pots of 
stone, after the manner of the pmifying of the J ews, con- 
taining two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto 
them, Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled 
them up to the brim. And he saith unto them. Draw out 
now, and bear unto the governour of the feast. And they 
bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water 
that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, (but 
the servants which drew the water knew,) the governour 
of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, 
Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, 
and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse : 
but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This begin- 
ning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and mani- 
fested forth his glory, and his disciples beheved on him. 

The Gospel.— The first miracle of our Lord was auother stage in the general manifestation of 
his glory. An Epiphany of wonders and mysteries thus began to shed its light on the world ; and 
it shone forth benignautly, startling by the greatness of the mii-acle, but calming the heart again 
by the sentiment of benevolence and love which seemed to give it birth. " Mine hour is not yet 
come" would have decided every Pharisee in the nation against granting any petition, however 
preferred ; but the Son of God, when the cause of kindness and brotherly charity was to be served, 
could allow himself to anticipate the seasons of Heaven ; the dates which would have been decrees, 
but for the power which had been given to the one almighty decree of love. We may also give 
a spiritual meaning to this miracle. The gladness of the feast was beginning to fail ; necessity 
in the midst of rejoicing had taken off the mask which it had for the moment assumed. Christ 
was present, and the spirit of gladness recovered itself at his bidding ; necessity fled at his look. 
And thus it will ever be. In the failure of the hope or strength which regard salvation, he 
changes the cold and tasteless element of mere natm-al thought into heavenly wisdom : in regard 
to worldly affairs, he supplies the daily bread, and the contentment which makes it a feast, and 
the godliness which makes it a great gain. At the last resplendent Epiphany, he will convert 
the broad dull streams of mortality into^rivers of life and glory. 

103 



The Third Sunday after the Epiphany. 




llie Collect. 
LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
mercifully look upon our infirmities, 
and in all our dangers and necessi- 
ties stretch forth thy right hand to 
j -^^ri^l^MiM] l^^lp ^nd defend us; through Jesus 

Christ our Lord. Amen, 



The Collect. — Our infirmities are a snffieient liinderance to our "running tlie race 
wliich is set "before us ;" but liow gi'eatly do we increase those wbicli spring from the want 
of natural strengih by sin, and obstinately-cherished follies ! Danger and necessity beset 
our path on all sides ; they who feel secure are frequently the least so ; and they who 
most anxiously desire security, missing the right path, f;ill into destruction when they 
imagine they are close to the fortress of defence. Tiiis short and simple prayer directs us to the 
only source of unerring wisdom. TJie experience of the world lias often deceived the best in- 
structed in its way ; the lessons of human wisdom as frequently fail in fitness of application, or 
power of conviction : tlie passions of the heai t, love, fea^r, pride, ambition, guard but capriciously, 
even when tli%ir OAvn ends are concerned ; but the strength which God bestows never fails. It 
satisfies the mind while it fortifies the heart ; and giving dignity in time of repose, it renders us 
•sufficient for the encounters in which our infirmities would otherwise leave us helplessly exposed 
to the wrath of our most deadlv enemv. 

104 ' ' 



THE THIKD SUNDAY AFTEE THE EPIPHANY. 



The E]jistle. Eom. xii. 16. 

E not wise in your own conceits. 
Eecompense to no man evil for evil. 
Provide tilings honest in the sight of 
all men. If it be possible, as much 
as lieth in you, live peaceably with 
all men. Dearly beloved, avenge 
not yourselves, but rather give place 
unto wrath ; for it is written. Ven- 
geance is mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, 
if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him 
drink : for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his 
head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with 
good. 

The GospeL St. Mattli. viii. 1. 

HEN he was come down from the 
mountain, great multitudes followed 
him. And behold, there came a 
leper, and worshipped him, saying. 
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make 
me clean. And Jesus put forth his 
hand, and touched him, saying, I 
will; be thou clean. And imme- 
diately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto 

The Epistle. — It is the part of prudence as well as holiness to suppress the temptations of 
self-conceit. Providing for " things honest in the sight of all men," the very next object of the 
Christian will he to chasten his heart, to set it free from the strivings of pride and passion, and 
to fill it with every attainable argument to peace and humility. We heap coals of fire on the 
heads of our enemies when we return their evil by good ; their curses by blessings : not coals 
of fire to consume them, but to make their hearts, hitherto impenetrable to right feeling, sus- 
ceptible of love and kindness. The sixth chapter of Isaiah may furnish, by analogy, an illus- 
tration of the sentiment employed : the live coal was taken from off the altar, and placed on his 
mouth it took away his iniquity and purged his sin. 

The Gospel. — The miracles described in this Gospel are further manifestations of Christ's divine 
nature, and therefore pertain to the illustration of the mystery of glory, or the spiritual Epiphany. 
It is interesting to find that the most miserable of men, as lepers might be considered, could 
come and worship Christ in the confidence of finding mercy. Driven as they were, because of 
their uncleanness from the haunts of society ; compelled to dwell apart, and lament unbefriended 
their forlorn condition, they could find no consolation in the ofiices of that religion, the stern 
rules of which had declared them unfit for admission into any consecrated place. But here was 
One surpassingly merciful and wise, the perfect purity of whose character had never been dis- 

105 p 





THE THIED SUNDAY AFTEK THE EPIPHANY. 



him. See thou tell no man, but go thy way, shew thyself to 
the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for 
a testimony unto them. And when Jesus was entered into 
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseech- 
ing him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick 
of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto 
him, I mil come and heal him. The centurion answered 
and said. Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come 
under my roof ; but speak the word only, and my servant 
shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having 
soldiers under me : and I say unto this man, Go, and he 
goeth ; and to another. Come, and he cometh : and to my 
servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, 
he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say 
unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. 
And, I say unto you. That many shall come from the east 
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, 
and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children 
of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness : 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus 
said unto the centurion. Go thy way, and as thou hast 
believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was 
healed in the self-same hour. 

puted, and He was willing to listen to the prayer of the leper. He cured and cleansed at the 
same moment. We ought from this miracle to learn, that when the world rejects us, Jesus 
Christ, if we go to Him humbly and believingly, is ever ready to hear our complaints ; that, 
however despised we may be in the sight of men, He will not regard us as unworthy of atten- 
tion ; and that, even should we know ourselves to be as fallen and sinful as the world represents 
us, still our refuge must be the mercy-seat of Cliiist. In the Church, therefore, how hopefully 
nfay we ask for the loving regards of the Saviour ; plead for the pardon of our sins, the cleansing 
of our souls, and our restoration to the companionship of the good and holy ! The cure of the 
Centurion's servant is another instance of mercy, and shows the value of faith and prayer, not 
only to those who exercise the grace, but to those also with whom they are connected. Happy 
is he among the afflicted who, unable to seek Christ himself, has some one to seek the great 
Physician for him. The Centurion was an officer in the Eoman army, but a proselyte. He had 
, not enjoyed from his birth the grand privilege of being admitted into covenant with God ; of 
receiving from the lips of divinely authorized teachers the knowledge of heavenly truths ; or ot 
standing before the altar wliile the blood of purifying sacrifices was poured forth as the means 
of roconcihation with God. But he had sought these blessings in the maturity of his reason ; 
and deeply impressed with the truth of God's early revelations, now rejoiced with unspeakable 
satisfaction at being permitted to seek Him in whom the Law and the Prophets were to have 
their fulfilment. 



106 



The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. 



^^^^^^^^ 




The Collect, 

GOD, ^Yho knowest us to be set in 
the midst of so many and great dan- 
gers, that by reason of the fraihy of 
om' nature we cannot always stand 
upright ; Grant to us such strength 
and protection, as may support us 
in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — The Christian is taught by sad experience to tremble at his weakness, and the 
insufficiency of his powers for the conflict with the world. He hastens, therefore, to Him who 
has said, "My grace is sufficient for thee;" "My strength is made perfect in weakness:" and 
this he does in conformity with the merciful direction, " Ask, and ye shall receive." Dangers 
and temptations embrace the various evils to which we are exposed both from within and from 
without. Protected from the one, we may yet perish by the other ; and it is Divine grace 
alone which can strengthen us against both. 

107 



THE FOUKTH SUNDAY AFTEK THE EPIPHANY. 



The Epistle. Eom. xiii. 1. 

ET eA^eiy soul be subject unto the 
higher powers ; for there is no power 
but of God : the powers that be are 
ordained of God. Whosoever there- 
fore resisteth the power resisteth the 
ordinance of God: and they that 
resist shall receive to themselves 
damnation. For rulers are not a 
terror to good Avorks, but to the evil. Wilt thoa then not 
be afraid of the power ? do that which is good, and thou 
shalt have praise of the same : for he is the minister of 
God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, 
be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is 
the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon 
him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, 
not only for y/rath, but also for conscience sake. For 
this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God's 
ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 
Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom 
tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, 
honour to whom honour. 

The GosiJel St. Matth. viii. 23. 

ND when he was entered into a ship, 
his disciples followed him. And be- 
hold, there arose a great tempest in 
the sea, insomuch that the ship was 
covered with the waves : but he was 
asleep. And his disciples came to 
him, and awoke him, saying. Lord, 
save us, we perish. And he saith 
unto them, Why are ye fearful, ye of httle faith ? Then 

The Epistle.— The Epistle from which this passage is taken was written at a time when the 
ralers of the world were prepaiing to exercise the full force of their authority against the followers 
of Christ. But this did not prevent the Apostle from urging upon them the duty of that obedi- 
108 





THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTEE THE EPIPHANY. 



he arose, and rebuked the wmds and the sea, and there 
was a great cahn. But the men marvelled, saying. What 
manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea 
obey him ! And when he was come to the other side into 
the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed 
with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so 
that no man might pass by that "way. And behold, they 
cried out, saying, T\Tiat have we to do with thee, Jesus, 
thou son of God? art thou come hither to torment us 
before the time? And there was a good way off from 
them an herd of many swine, feeding. So the devils be- 
sought him, sa}dng, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go 
away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them. Go. 
And when they were come out, they went into the herd of 
swine: and behold, the whole herd of swine ran Aaolently 
doAvn a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 
And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into 
the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to 
the possessed of the devils. And behold, the whole city 
came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they 
besought him, that he would depart out of their coasts. 

ence to the laws, without which society could not exist. The objects of the Gospel were inde- 
pendent of things earthly and temporal. It would have been to act in direct opposition to the 
example of their Master, had believers concerned themselves with the governments of the world. 
" My kingdom is not of this world," was his explicit declaration ; and he taught them by this 
statement to tix their thoughts on the higher business of Salvation as distinct from temporal 
anxieties. A Christian, therefore, will then only meddle with public affau'S when he can take 
to their examination the feelings and sentiments proper to Ms calling. Not shrinking from his 
responsibilities as a man and a citizen, he will, when necessary for the good of his country and 
mankind, lift up his voice ; but this will never be done for the sake of justifying disobedience 
to legal authority, but always to fix that authority on broader and sounder foundations. 

The Gospel.— Our Lord rarely put forth the power of his divinity without the twofold inten- 
tion of demonstrating the truth of his sayings, and his willingness to relieve affliction. In the 
miracles here described, he exercises his sublime attributes in a more awful manner than usual. 
The stormy waves raging against him disturbed not the slumbers which he allowed to be broken 
by the mistrusting fears of his disciples. He wakes at their cry, reproving their want of faith, 
but relieving their distress. The deepest calm follows his command ; and the Lord of Nature 
is thus seen bringing every thing into obedience to the purposes of his love. From the dis- 
turbed and raging provinces of the material world, he enters that where moral existence pre- 
sents the misery and horrible confusion of all-powerful evil. speaks again, and his word is 
again omnipotent. A thousand miracles could not teach us more plainly than these two, that 
misery, whether it be physical or moral, must ever yield to the present influence of the Word 
that became incarnate, and still by his Spirit dwells among us. Let us not be as the blind 
and foolish Gadarenes, desuing him " to depart out of our coasts." 



109 



The Fifth Sundaij after the Epiphanij. 





In I 



LOED. we beseecli thee to keep thv 
Church and household continuahy 
in thy true rehgion : that they who 
do lean only upon the hope of th^^ 
heavenly grace inay evermore be 
defended bv thv mighty power : 



through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



^ The Collect.— Dependence on the mercy and grace of God is the best proof we can 
give that they are earnestly desired. Leaning only on tlie hope of His goodness, that 
_ goodness mU never fail to manifest itself. The Chnrch of Clirist has in il a<-e* iojin>\ 
this to be the case. It has failed in nothing while tmsting to the power of its Founder and 
Head: it has been well-nigh overwhelmed whenever it has for a short season looked to other 
sources of strength or dignity. The truth of this doctrine is intimated with eonil force and 
beauty m the appeUation here given to the Church. It is God's familv and household • it con- 
sists of those whom He has received into the adoption of sons ; whom' He re-ards as His chil- 
dren reborn in Christ : and of those whom He employs in the all-important services of minister- 
ing the aftairs and mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. A household thus composed mav 
indeed look for His bles.sing and continual presence. The notion of a Church is then onlV 
nghtly formed wlien it is thus conceived of as implying the Fatherlv supermtendence. control 
and spiritual benediction of the Almighty Founder and Head 

110 



THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTEE THE EPIPHANY. 



The Epistle. Col. iii. 12. ' 

UT on therefore, as the elect of God, 
holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, 
kindness, humbleness of mind, meek- 
ness, long-suffering ; forbearing one 
another, and forgiving one another, 
if any man have a quarrel against 
any ; even as Christ forgave you, so 
also do ye. And above all these 
things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which 
also ye are called in one body ; and be ye thankful. Let 
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teach- 
ing and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, 
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to 
the Lord. And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all 
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and 
the Father by him. 

The Epistle.— There is gi-eat fulness of instruction in this Epistle. The outward character 
of Christians is to be formed of graces and virtues, the worth of which may be discerned by the 
world at large. As the people, of God,— a race separated by holiness from the sensual and 
thoughtless multitude— they are expected to manifest the power of the Spirit which first said, 
" Come out from among them, and be ye separate," by the kindness of their dispositions, and 
the uniform purity of their conduct. But while this might satisfy the world, something more is 
expected from them by God. His grace must rule in their breasts : that is, they must have an 
inward and spiritual motive for all they do. The fruits they produce must be the result of the 
quickening grace of God ;— not the product of principles which may change, or of motives m- 
dependent of His promises or commands. If the Word of Christ— that true seed of all wisdom 
and all virtue— dwell in us, this will be the case ; whatever we do will be done in His name, 
and for His sake will be accepted by God as the free-will offering of loving and thankful hearts. 
It is only by adopting the Apostolic precepts of doing all things in the name of the Saviour, 
who is not the pure example merely of holiness and virtue, but the quickening spirit, that these 
wonders of humility and energy, of peace, resignation, forgiveness, and love of enemies, with the 
power and readiness to work out the noblest plans of truth and benevolence, can show forth 
themselves in simple humanity. Beginning with the exercise of repentance, the heart of the 
Christian rises by the gradual but ever-increasing influences of holiness to the grandest heights 
of converting wisdom. He repents, believes, and loves ; and at every stage of his progress 
manifests that the bond of perfectness is drawn more and more firmly round him ; and that it is 
uniting Mm by indissoluble ties to the bright circles of God's family above. 

The Gospel.— The existence of evil can never be traced to the will of a Being perfectly good ; 
but it is not inconsistent with His attributes to permit it till He shall have completed His plans, 
and overruled its hostility and power by the force of His own everlasting wisdom. Cm- Lord 
evidently alludes to the circumstances which would occur in the establishment and progress of 
His Church. The seed is sown; the l?lade springs up and bears forth fruit; but then appear 
111 




THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTEE THE EPIPHANY. 



The Gospel. St. Mattli. xiii. 24. 

HE kingdom of heaven is likened 
unto a man which sowed good seed 
in his field. But while men slept, 
his enemy came and sowed tares 
among the wheat, and went his way. 
\r - I . But when the blade Avas sprung up, 

1— -a^^A^^^Uk ^^^d brought forth fruit, then ap- 
peared the tares also. So the ser- 
vants of the householder came, and said unto him. Sir, 
didst not thou sow good seed in thy field ? from whence 
then hath it tares ? He said unto them. An enemy hath 
done this. The servants said unto him. Wilt thou then 
that we go and gather them up ? But he said, Nay ; lest 
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat 
with^ them. Let both grow together until the harvest ; 
and m the time of harvest I will say to the reapers. Gather 
ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to 
burn them ; but gather the wheat into my barn. 

the tares which had been sown by an enemy, mo sees not in all this the faithful representation 
of what has taken place since Christ suffered, and first sent forth His ministers to preach the 
doctrines of Salvation ? The good soil of humble and penitent hearts received the seed of 
heavenly truth thus sown ; but the author of error was not backward in his work ; and con- 
temporary with the diffusion of the purest knowledge was the rise of heresies —not less evil in 
their practical tendencies than opposed to the doctrines of the Cross. Mercy, wisdom, and 
justice, have allowed these ills to remain. Those who foster and promote them mingle uninter- 
ruptedly for a while with the good. Some of them may repent : the rest will afford a signal 
proof of the Divine justice :— all contribute to bring about the designs of God. The knowledge 
that evil exists, combined with the simple element of natural faith that it will not be allowed to 
exist for ever, ought to act upon men's minds with the force of the most tremendous warning 
agamstsin. "Offences must needs come, but woe unto him by whom the offence cometh !" 
The mightier the power of evil in our hearts, the sm-er our condemnation, the more impossible 
our restoration to fehcity. To reason against this conclusion, is to deny the power and the 
sovereignty of good ; to daive hope from its deep hiding-places in the heart of nature, and make 
the best foundations of human happiness a sacrifice to the miserable selfishness of vice. 




112 



The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. 




/ selves, even as he is pure ; that, when he shall appear 
\\ agam with power and great glory, we may be made 
\ like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom ; 



where with thee, O Father, and thee, Holy Ghost, 
he liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. 
Amen, 

The Collect.— So directly does the Gospel refer to our various and most urgent necessities, 
that we then best express our wants in prayer when we are most deeply imbued with the lessons 
of Scripture. The foundation of our hope is the purpose of Chiist to save, sanctify, and glorify 
us. Without this, we should in vain raise our thoughts to Heaven, or look for mercy from the 
strict justice of God. Manifested to take away our sins, and perfecting His design by the 
methods of combined holiness and love, the petition that they may be made like Him in His 
eternal kingdom will be gloriously accomplished in all His faithful people. 

113 Q 



THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY. 




The Epistle, I St. John iii. 1. 

EHOLD, what manner of love the 
Father hath bestowed npon us, that 
we should be called the sons of God : 
therefore the world knoweth us not, 
because it knew him not. Beloved, 
now are we the sons of God, and it 
doth not jet appear what we shall 
be : but we know, that, when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he 
is. And everj man that hath this hope in him pmifieth 
himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin 
transo'i'esseth also the law : for sin is the transoTession of 
the law. And je know that he was manifested to take 
awaj our sins ; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth 
in him sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, 
neither knomi him. Little children, let no man deceive 
jou ; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he 
is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil : for 
the de^dl sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose 
the Son of God was manifested, that he might destrov the 
works of the de^dl. 



The Gospel St. Matth. xxiv. 23. 

HEN if anj man shall saj unto you, 
Lo, here is Christ, or there ; believe 
it not. For there shall arise false 
Christs, and false prophets, and shall 
shew great signs and wonders; inso- 
much that (if it were possible) they 
shall deceive the verj elect. Be- 
hold, I have told vou before. Where- 
fore, if thej shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert ; 




The Epistle.— The truths of the Gospel seem to concentrate the whole force of their rays in 
this sublime account of the dignity and holiness of Christians. A prejudiced world contents it- 
self with looking occasionally at the precepts of Eeligion, and, acknowledging tJieir beauty, it 
imagines that the requirements which it involves are sufficientlv answered. But the world 

114 



THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTEK THE EPIPHANY. 



p'o not forth : behold, he is m the secret chambers : be- 
heve it not. For as the hghtning cometh out of the east, 
and shineth even unto the west ; so shall also the coming 
of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, 
there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately 
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be dark- 
ened, and the moon shall not give her hght, and the stars 
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall 
be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
Man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the 
clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he 
shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, 
from one end of heaven to the other. 

knows not Christ, and how should it know His Gospel, or His people ? The day approaches 
when the star shall arise which will conduct us, not to the cradle, but to the resplendent throne 
of the Saviour ; when the Epiphany of eternal glory shall burst upon us, and we shall see Him 
as He is. But in this mightiest of the manifestations of the Redeemer is our own fate involved ! 
We shall either be, like Him, changed into His image by the triumphant power of the Spirit,— 
or be driven into the outer darkness, where there would be an everlasting nothingness, but that 
sin has there its dwelhng. The hope of the former grand consummation of our being may well 
teach us to seek for purity,— the purity of heart and mind which the Holy Ghost bestows— and 
without which, long as we may look, we shall never see God ! 

The Gospel. — Our Lord appeared in a season of profound peace ; but the seeds of war and 
calamity were already thickly sown. The condition of the Jews was one of bondage, and they 
bore it with iU-concealed impatience. Careful not to provoke them, their Roman masters had 
hitherto consulted their prejudices, and spared them many of the insults which they might have 
looked for from less tolerant conquerors. The pride and luxury of the Sadducees,— the secret 
views of the Pharisees, induced both parties to submit themselves complacently to the men in 
authority, hoping thereby to secure the pre-eminence of their own interests. But a spirit of hate 
was daily gathering strength ; and the superstition of the people drew fresh nourisliment from 
every event that occurred for the mad and destructive zealotry which had its birth in these times. 
The universal expectation of a Messiah furnished a ground-work for imposture such as existed in 
no other nation. To the bold speculator on the credulity of the people, it offered an ever ready 
means for producing the wildest excitement ; to the earnest and fevered enthusiast himself, it 
brought arguments sufficient to justify the conscience in the most daring undertakings. A few 
years only had passed since the Ascension of Our Lord when all these causes of confusion and 
misery began to work. False Christs and false prophets presented themselves to the bewildered 
people ; terror obtained a hearing for them ; and, aided by magical arts, they deceived all but 
those who were willing to abide by the Word of God. History describes how awfully the pre- 
dictions of Christ were fulfilled. The hand of God was visibly stretched forth. The carcase, 
the miserable remains, that is, of the once glorious body of the Jewish nation, lay cumbering 
the sacred soil, which had been as the garden of the Lord ; and the eagles, the Roman armies, 
namely, with then- proud emblematic standards, gathered round it to devour. What an Epiphany 
of mingled teiTor and glory was the manifestation of Christ judging Jerusalem ! How much 
more awful will that be of which this was the type ! The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the 
Fifth Sunday were formerly read on the Sixth Sunday : the present were added at the review. 

115 



Tlie Sundatj called Septuagesima, or the third Sundai/ 

before Lent. 




The Cdkct. 
LOED. we beseech thee favoiirablv 
to hear the prayers of thy people: 
that we. who are justly punished for 
our offences, may be mercifihly de- 
hvered by thy goodness, fur the glorv 
of thy Xame : through Jesus Christ 
our Savioui', Avho hveth and reigneth 
with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God. world 
i without end. Ameih 



The Collect.— The Sundays named Sepluagesima, Sexagesima, and Qumr|iia£A^iira fip 
cuUed from their coming, in round nnmhers, seventr, sixlv, and fift}- da v. ] efrre E^^t.r Lent 
Itself is caUed the Quadragesimal Fast, or fast of forty days. The"antiquitv of this fast un- 
disputed; but churches and learned men hare formed different views respect^no- it* ori-iral 
institution. Some ascribe it to Apostolic authority; otiiers regard it as onlv of Eccle^itMical 
ongm. There are many also who contend that it was a fast of foiirv l.ours, and not r,f rt^ v. ■ 
but this opiuion IS oppose<l by such a variety of arguments, both doctrinal and t it 

IS now rarely held. The observance of tlie three Sundavs precediij- its commencen - .d 
up to the times of Gregory tlie Great, that is, to the close of tL. ..i.xth centun-. Seasous of such 
solemmty as Lent may well be regarded as requiriug a preparation cf the mind and heart We 
can scarcely pass at once from the agitations of life to the deepest exercises of penitence and 
spiritual confession. 

116 



SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 



The Epistle. 1 Cor. ix. 24. 

NOW ye not, that they which run 
in a race run all, but one receiveth 
the prize ? So run that ye may ob- 
tain. And every man that striveth 
for the mastery is temperate in all 
things: now they do it to obtain a 
corruptible crown, but we an incor- 
ruptible. I therefore so run, not as 
uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air : 
but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, 
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I 
myself should be a cast-av»^ay. 




The Gospel St. Mattli. xx. 1. 



HE kingdom of heaven is like unto 
a man that is an householder, Avhich 
went out early in the morning to hire 
labourers into his vineyard. And 
when he had agreed with the labour- 
ers for a peny a day, he sent them 
into his vineyard. And he went out 
about the third hour, and saw others 
standing idle in the market-place, and said unto them, 




The Epistle. — To those who discover m the Gospel the true sources of life and peace, — who 
believe that, when God's love is secured, happiness can never fail, — the pursuit of righteousness 
will be the constant employment of their powers. On contemplating what is done and suffered 
by aspirants after worldly honours, — how they strive for mastery when a prize is offered which 
has no intrinsic or enduring value — they cannot but reprove themselves for inconsistency if, with 
a crown of glory in view — an inheritance in the everlasting heavens — they shrink from enduring 
any of the toils or difficulties necessary to insure success ! Discipline is as essential to the 
strengthening of our minds, as to the nerving of our frames for any great undertaking ; and the 
process pointed out by the great masters of divine wisdom has something in itself so noble and 
animating, that to adopt it is to raise ourselves at once above the worst misfortunes of our state. 

The Gospel, — The mercy of God never shines more resplendently than when contrasted with 
the selfishness and rigid severity of man. Were the Almighty Father to answer us accordhig to 
our folly, and treat us by the rules of our own framing, the world would soon cease to exist. 
The most melancholy of all proofs of the hardness of man's heart is the jealousy with which he 
regards his religious advantages and privileges. The proper tendency of holiness is identical 
with that of charity ; but this is resisted, and hate, pride, and severity, are brought in as the 

117 



SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 



Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right 
I will give you. And they went their way. Again he 
went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found 
others standing idle, and saith unto them. Why stand ye 
here all the day idle ? They say unto him. Because no 
man hath hired us. He saith unto them. Go ye also into 
the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 
So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith 
unto his steward. Call the labourers, and give them their 
hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when 
they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they 
received every man a peny. But when the first came, 
they supposed that they should have received more ; and 
they likewise received every man a peny. And when 
they had received it, they murmured against the good-man 
of the house, saying. These last have wrought but one hour, 
and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne 
the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of 
them, and said. Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst not 
thou agree with me for a peny ? Take that thhie is, and 
go thy way ; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. 
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? 
Is thine eye evil, because I am good ? So the last shall 
be first, and the first last : for many be called, but few 
chosen. 

handmaids of righteousness. It was as hateful to the Jews to think of sharing, as to contemplate 
the loss of, their privileges. The intimation, therefore, which occurred in tlie discourse of our 
Lord, that the time would come when the Gentiles, though called late, would be admitted to 
glory, filled them with indignation. We may apply tlie lesson botli generally and individually. 
Let us not allow the grandeur of either our Churcli or nation to inflame us with pride,— the first 
and worst source of uncharitableness : let us not, if we have long repented, and long cultivated 
the spirit of fxith and wisdom, look slightingly on those who have but just felt the movements 
of Divine grace. What have we that we have not received ? And if we are all alike indebted 
to one common Fountain of compassion, what room is there for disputing the right of mercy to 
exercise itself without obeying the dictates of our selfishness or our pride ? Want of charity, 
with its attendant evils, is more than sufficient to deprive the best religious privileges of their 
force, and so place the first where the last had stood. Christianity is the only religion which 
has established itself on the foundation of love ; and love is the only sufficient foundation of 
I'eligioa. It is by the power of this divine principle alone that an infinite God can act for the 
benefit of His creatures, or that His creatures can prove their obedience to His will by continu- 
ally reciprocating acts of holiness. 

118 ■ 



TJie Sunday called Sexagesimal or the second Sunday 
before Lent 




The Collect. 

LORD God, who seest that we put 
not our trust in any thing that we 
do ; Mercifully grant that by thy 
power we may be defended against 
all adversity; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen, 

\ 

\ The Collect. — It is the requisite characteristic of earnest prayer, that it springs from 
(| a strong feeling of necessity. The praises which we render to God are only acceptable 
I when they express the unaffected sentiments of grateful hearts ; and in the same manner 
we must be able to say and feel, when we present our petitions, that we put not our trust 
in anything which we do, but depend solely on the power of God, exercised in our favour 
through Jesus Christ. Our dread of adversity, like the desire of good, will always partake of the 
nature of our principles. Worldly and sensual, our only fear will be lest the chances of life 
sliould deprive us of present enjoyments. Eoused to a better understanding of the designs and 
capabilities of our being, our fears will then be most intensely excited when adversity threatens 
us in the form of spiritual losses and defections. Happy they who are susceptible of such sorrows 
and appreliensions ! 

119 




SEXAGESIMA SUM) AY. 




The Ejmtle. 2 Cor. xi. 19. 

p E suffer fools gladly, seeing ye your- 
selves are wise. For ye suffer if a 
man bring you into bondage, if a 
man devour you, if a man take of 
you, if a man exalt himself, if a man 
smite you on the face. I speak as 
concerning reproach, as though we 
had been weak : howbeit, whereinso- 
ever any is bold, (I speak fooUshly,) I am bold also. Are 
they Hebrews ? so am I. Are they Israehtes ? so am I. 
Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they 
ministers of Christ ? (I speak as a fool,) I am more : in 
labours more abundant; in stripes above measure; in 
prisons more frequent ; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five 
times received I forty stripes save one ; thrice was I beaten 
with rods ; once was I stoned ; thrice I suffered shipAvreck ; 
a night and a day I have been in the deep ; in journeying 
often ; in perils of waters ; in perils of robbers ; in perils 
by mine omi countrymen ; in perils by the heathen ; in 
perils in the city ; in perils in the wilderness ; in perils in 
the sea ; in perils among false brethren ; in weariness and 
painfulness ; in watchings often ; in hunger and thirst ; in 
fastings often ; in cold and nakedness ; besides those things 
that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the 
care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not 
weak ? who is offended, and I burn not ? If I must needs 
glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine in- 
firmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 

The Epistle.- The readiness with which the first preachers of the Gospel suffered everything 
for its sake, affords a noble illustration of its power to strengthen and elevate the heart. It was 
not by the patient endurance of bodily pain merely that they exhibited the grandeur of the prin- 
ciples which glowed within them ;— reproach and contumely, scorn and misrepresentation, at- 
tended their self-devotion to tlie cause of truth. They who suffered fools gladly,— the bold, pre- 
sumptuous pretenders to wisdom— would not endure the glorious yet mild instruction of these 
true disciples of knowledge and heavenly science. Yet, unprovoked and unwearied, the teachers 
of the Gospel could persevere in their course, rejoicing in tribulation whenever their affliction 
might remind either themselves or others of tlie Cross of Christ. St. Paul supported his claims 
120 



SEXAOESIMA SUNDAY. 



The Gospel, St. Luke viii. 4. 

HEN much people were gathered 
together, and were come to him out 
of every city, he spake by a parable : 
A sower went out to sow his seed ; 
and as he sowed, some fell by the 
way-side, and it was trodden down, 
and the fowls of the air devoured it. 
And some fell upon a rock, and as 
soon as it was sprung up, it mthered away, because it 
lacked moistm'e. And some fell among thorns, and the 
thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell 
on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred- 
fold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He 
that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples 
asked him, sajdng. What might this parable be ? And he 
said. Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the 
kingdom of God : but to others in parables ; that seeing 
they might not see, and hearing they might not under- 
stand. Now the parable is this : The seed is the AVord ot 
God. Those by the way-side are they that hear; then 
cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their 
hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved. They on 

to attention by arguments adapted to the views of tliose wliom he had to instruct. He was a 
Hebrew of the Hebrews— a Jew both by birth and profession; but he could urge arguments of a 
still more forcible kind,— he was influenced in all he did by the warmest and most generous sjtb- 
pathy :— " Who is weak, and I am not weak ? Who is offended, and I bum not T 

The Gospel.— In this divine parable our Lord shows in the most strikmg manner how small a 
proportion of those to whom the Gospel is preached receive it with truly thankful and obedient 
hearts. The way-side hearer allows it to fall upon his ear as if it were of no more value than the 
verbiage of tasteless and formal moralists. Others receive it upon heai'ts cold and impenetrable. 
The superficial knowledge which they acquire displays itself in an outward conformity to some oi 
the more obvious requirements of decency, or perhaps a momentary expression of zeal when pro- 
voked by the contradiction of declared unbelievers. Others have received the word with joy, 
pleased with the discoveiy of its adaptation to the necessities of the world, or the state of morals ; 
or if their characters be of a more ardent and imaginative kind, they thus receive it because it 
answers some natural wish, or capricious desii'e of the heart ; but it has not penetrated or con- 
verted the soul, and temptation coming, the whole of the seeming behef vanishes. There is yet 
another class to whom God's word, though at first acknowledged, comes in vain. This consists 
of the busy and ambitious votaries of the world. The Gospel rouses them to attention,— quickens 
tlie conscience,— obliges reason to warn them of the folly of their anxiety respecting the things 
which perish. A few stragghng signs of repentance,— of faith,— of devotion, appear; but the 

121 V ^ R 




SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY, 



the roclv are they, which, when they hear, receive the word 
with joy ; and these have no root, which for a while believe, 
and in tiine of temptation fall away. And that which 
fell among thorns, are they, which, when they have heard, 
go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and plea- 
snres of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But 
that on the good ground, are they, which in an honest and 
good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth 
fi'uit with patience. 

world presses on witli its cares and temptations, and the weak nurslings of the Gospel perish. 
Blessed are they to whom the conclusion of the parable applies. Wisdom is justified of her chil- 
dren ; and they shall be justified when they appear in the presence of their eternal Father. 
" Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables ; 
that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand." This must seem a 
hard saying to tlie luiderstanding of those who are unwilling or unaccustomed to consider the 
character of the Gospel. The minds of men are naturally not more inclined than their hearts 
to receive it as it comes from the clear regions of truth. Doctrine and moral precept share the 
like fate in this respect. They are equally unacceptable to the worldly, and would be still more 
so could it see tliem in their most perfect forms. A softening shadow is thrown around their 
radiance by Divine mercy itself ; and our weak sight is enabled to bear the lustre of the brightest 
truth passing through its proper medium. But the world, by wilful unbelief, converts the trans- 
parent veil of inspired language into clouds and darkness. Men see without perceiving. They 
are assured of God's presence, but feel it not. He reveals His will and intentions ; but to the 
revelation, all-important and interesting as it is, they opi^ose a deaf ear and an obstinate heart. 
That our Lord, in speaking by parables to the multitude, did not act with severity or with the 
intention of refusing them the blessings of light and knowledge, appears from the whole tenor of 
His conduct. He came for the express purpose of instructing mankind. " I am come a light into 
the world " was the language which He used ; and when we consider how patiently He unfolded 
His gracious designs, how plain were His offers of mercy and of the regenerating Spirit, who will 
doubt His right to such an appellation ? The medium of parables was in reality employed that 
prejudice might be disarmed ; that ignorance might not be disheartened ; that minds least accus- 
tomed to spiritual contemplation might be able to see, even from the beginning, somewhat of the 
plan and objects of the Gospel. . " That seeing they may see, and not perceive," was spoken pro- 
verbially, and in reference to the persevering obstinacy of men, rather than as a declaration of in- 
tended punishment. But the world, as in other cases, did itself make that a cause of difficulty 
which was originally intended to open the paths of truth, and tljereby converted a blessing into 
a cause for the highest species of moral and spiritual punishment. The structm-e of our Saviour's 
parables is of the sirnplest character : no one could fail to understand the general meaning of 
that above delivered. He was known to speak of moral and rehgious truths ; and the people 
had been accustomed from the most ancient times to this mode of instruction. Unwillingness to 
make the practical application, hardness of heart, pride, and self-sufficiency were the true reasons 
of their finding His parables obscure. In the result his hearers divided themselves into two 
classes : the one contented to remain in their darkness ; the other seeking from the Lord with 
humbled hearts the spiritual interpretation which He alone could give. 



122 



The Sunday called Quinquagesima^ or the next Sunday 

before Lent. 






The Collect. 



LORD, who hast taught us that all 
our domgs without charity are no- 
thing worth ; Send thy Holy Ghost, 
and pour into our hearts that most 
excellent gift of charity, the very 
bond of peace and of all virtues, 
without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before 
thee : Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's 
sake. Amen. 



The Collect. — The harmony of Christian graces is beautifully illustrated in this Collect, Faith 
acknowledges the divine teaching of the Scriptures ; hope leads us to look for the sublime gift of 
the Holy Spirit ; om- general understanding of the system of gra^je instructs us to regard Him as 
the sole fountain of holiness and virtue ; and to charity, or love, the foundation of the Gospel itself, 
we attribute the power which blends together and vivifies all the elements of good which may be 
bestowed upon our hearts. 

123 



QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 



The Epistle. 1 Cor. xiii. 1. 

HOUGH I speak with the tongues 
of men and of angels, and have not 
charity, I am become as sounding 
brass, or a tinkhng cymbal. And 
though I have the gift of prophecy, 
and understand all mysteries, and 
all knowledge ; and though I have 
all faith, so that I could remove 
mountains, and have no charity, I am nothing. And 
though 1 bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and 
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, 
it profiteth me nothing. Charity suflfereth long, and is 
kind ; charity envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is 
not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, 
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth 
all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth 
all things. Charity never faileth ; but whether there be 
prophecies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they 
shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish 
away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is 
in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake 
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; 
but when I became a man, 1 put away childish things. For 
now we see through a glass darkly ; but then face to face : 
uo^nV I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I 
am knomi. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these 
three ; but the greatest of these is charity. 

The Epistle. — Never was any grace or virtue described with a more exquisite particularity or 
witli nobler eloquence than tliat which St. Paul employs in this delineation of charity. Whatever 
can give dimity to the outward man ; whatever is most esteemed in the acquirements of mind : 
whatever even is considered as of greatest worth in the profession of holiness ; all are brought in 
review before us. The spectacle awakens our admiration ; we feel inclined to exclaim, Surely 
nothinj? more can be wanting to complete the line of human merits and distinctions ! The world 
quickly echoes this sentiment ; but the decision of pure wisdom is, that as yet we have seen nothing 
more than the pageantrj^ of virtue ; that the grace being wanting which tlie world cannot give, 

124 




QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 




The Gospel, St. Lnke xviii. 31. 

HEN Jesus took unto him the twelve, 
and said unto them, Behold, we go 
up to Jerusalem, and all things that 
are written by the prophets concern- 
ing the Son of Man shall be accom- 
phshed. For he shall be delivered 
imto the Gentiles, and shall be 
mocked, and spitefully entreated, 
and spitted on : and they shall scoin'ge him, and put him 
to death; and the third day he shall rise again. And 
they understood none of these things : and this saying was 
hid from them, neither knew they the things which were 
spoken. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh 
unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside beg- 
ging : and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what 
it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth 
passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of 

the whole is baseless and worthless as a shadow. The eloquence of angels employed on the 
highest themes that can interest the human mind ; the wisdom which by foresight should enable 
a man to unfathom the mysteries of Providence ; the faith, the generosity, which might lead to 
wonderful displays of ardour : even these have no substance in them, we are told, without charity, 
the animatmg and glorifying grace of the regenerating Gospel. And if the rule thus earnestly _ 
insisted upon by the Christian system be carefully examined by the Ught of reason, will it be found ' 
wantmg in truth ? Will it not rather be seen that the principle of which the Apostle speaks is 
absolutely necessary to the efficiency of every plan employed for the benefit of mankind, whether 
it originate in the wisdom of states or in the virtue of individuals ? Charity, in the language of 
the Gospel, is synonymous with love, and is contented with nothing less tliau the entire sacrifice 
of every principle of selfishness to its own ennobling influence and demands. 

The Gospel.— Our Lord's foresight of His sufferings gives additional force to the grandeur of 
His example. He endured not pain and anguish by some sudden effort of resignation ; but, look- 
ing forward to the continually increasing weight of sorrow, willingly bowed His head to the piti- 
less storm which sin had raised against Him. The shadow of the Cross lay darkly on His path 
from the beginning, and gave a deeper gloom to the wilderness, greater horror to the raging of 
the wind and the sea. It was written in the Prophets that He should " be despised and rejected 
of men ;" that " the assembly of the wicked should inclose Him ;" that they would " gape upon 
Him with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion ;" that they " would pierce His hands and 
His feet ;" and " part His garments among them." These and the whole long train of other awful 
particulars, read by the Spuit which dwelt within Him, were present to the mind of Christ with 
a distinctness proportionable to the power of His illumined understanding. From others they 
were hid ; and the first glimpse which they caught of the truth overwhelmed their hearts. The 
difficulty to mere natm-al reason was increased tenfold by the demonstrations of power which 
accompanied even His warnmgs of approaching suffering. The Son of Man " shall be mocked, 
and spitefully entreated, and spitted on ; and they shall scourge Him and put Him to death. ' 
Scarcely had these words been uttered, when the prayer of distress is answered by an act of 
Divinity. He who, a moment before, was speaking of sorrows which seemed necessarily confined 

125 



QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 

David, have mercy on me. And they which went before 
rebuked him, that he should hold his peace : but he cried 
so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 
And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto 
him : and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, 
What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee ? And he said' 
Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto 
him. Receive thy sight ; thy faith hath saved thee. And 
immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glori- 
fying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave 
praise unto God. 

to the most abject or the most helpless of mankind, now utters but a word, and the bonds of afflic- 
tion, where most firmly riveted, are at once dissolved. Blindness had shut out the world from 
the present object of our Saviour's mercy ; poverty had deprived him of the comforts and solaces 
of a home; but the readiness with which he appealed to the power of Christ seems to intimate 
that he had made up for many of his natural disadvantages by the right employment of inward 
grace. Unable to trace for himself the chart of prophecy, he had, it is probable, h-stened in the 
synagogues with intense interest to the reading of the heavenly Word. Memory, quickened by 
hope and strengthened by love, had laid hold of the truths most comforting to the spirit ; he carried 
tiiem with him to his obscure retreats ; he mused upon them as he sat bv the way-side begging. 
TrutL, living and divine, tlius treasured in the heart, grows quickly, and speedily connects itself 
with all that IS most gracious in the plans of Providence. The Spirit and the blessing of God visit 
the souls m which it dwells ; and to such souls it is that the first communications are made when 
the Father of mercies is about to open fresh fountains of grace. The blind man knew his Saviour 
when learned scribes and self-righteous Pharisees rejected Him ; the blind man acknowledged 
the might of Jesus when the thousands who had seen His miracles and received sensible demon- 
strations of His Almighty power said, - He hath a devil !" the blind man, who could read no 
prophecy, who had no means of comparing precept with precept, was able to address Him by the 
title which connected His present mission with the most remarkable of the announcements made 
to the fathers; while the best instructed of the land-the men who imagined that they could 
find a mystery, and the interpretation of it, in every letter of the Scriptures,— were unable to see 
the true meaning of any one of the plainest prophecies, of those which most intimately concerned 
the safety and glory of their nation. The petition of tlie Wind man, " Lord, that I may receive 
my sight," was a prayer for an inferior blessing, springing from the possession of one by analogy 
the same, but of an infinitely higher kind. It is of vast consequence that we should in all cases 
be able to use this argument witli God-" Father, tliou hast given us the riches of grace, Oli ! do 
not refuse us the inferior blessings which in this our low estate are necessary to our peace or our 
usefulness !" St. Paul leads us to cultivate this mode of reasoning in that sublime model of cheer- 
ing argument where he says, " He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all 
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ?" The practical application which we 
ought to make of the narrative is this : Have we recovered the light of our understandino-g by 
the power of the Divine Spirit, or, convinced of our darkness, do we watch for the presence of 
Jesus Christ, that we may obtain from Him that most important of all blessings ? Or, if we may 
rest m the happy conviction that the boon has been already bestowed, and that throu-h the 
niercy ol the Most High we see and possess the things which make for our peace, do we now, 
after the example of the blind beggar, follow our benefactor and glorify God ? 



126 



Tlie First Day of Lent, commonly called Ash- 
Wednesday, 




The Collect, 

LMIGHTY 
and everlast- 
ing God, who 
liatest no- 
|i| thing that 
thou hast 
made, and 
dost forgive the Sins of all 
them that are penitent ; Create 
and make in us new and con- 
trite hearts, that we worthily 
lamenting our sins, and ac- 
knowledging our wTetched- 
ness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect 
remission and lorgiveness ; through J esus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

^ Tliis Collect is to he read every day in Lent after the Collect a;p]Jointed for tie Bay. 

The Collect— This day has been observed from the time of Gregory the Great with fastmg 
and prayer, and other exercises indicative of sorrow for sin. It is called Ash-Wednesday, from 
the custom which prevailed among the ancient Chiistans, as before among the Jews (Esther iv. 1, 
Daniel ix. 3), of sprinklmg ashes on their heads when engaged in acts of deep and public 
penitence, the word Lent, which is derived from the Saxon, and signifies spring-time, is applied 
to the forty days' fast, to distmguish it from other periods of abstinence. It was from the esta- 
bhshed rule that the Sabbath ought to be regarded and kept as a festival, that Pope Gregory in- 
troduced the custom of beginning Lent on Ash- Wednesday, thence called the head of the fast. 
Fom- days are thereby gained, and the Sunday is still left us to commemorate with joy and thanks- 
giving tiie resurrection of Christ. Penance m the ancient Chm-ch was commonly performed on 
this day. The persons who sought thereby readmission to the communion of saints were obliged 
to present themselves at the door of the church, barefooted, and clothed in sackcloth. Led mto 
the church, they were siu-rounded by the clergy, who repeated the seven penitential psalms, and 
then the bishop sprinkled them with water of purification, and having put ashes ajid sackcloth 
on their heads, expelled them the church, as Adam, he said, was driven from paradise. Various 
acts of mortification were enjoined them, and these being duly performed, the penitents were re- 
admitted to communion at tl.e close of the forty days. The Church of England employs the 
commiuation on this day, and its members are called upon to exej-cise all the duties of a spiritual, 
though not those of an outward, penance. 

127 



THE FIKST DAY OF LENT. 



For the Epistle. Joel ii, 12. 

UEN ye even to me, saith the 
Lord, with all your heart and with 
fasting, and with weeping, and with 
mourning. And rend jour heart, 
and not your garments, and turn 
unto the Lord your God: for he is 
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, 
and of great kindness, and repenteth 
him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return, and 
repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat- 
offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God ? 
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn 
assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, 
assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that 
suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth of his 
chamber, and the bride out of her closet ; let the priests, 
the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and 
the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, Lord, and 
give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should 
rule over them : wherefore should they say among the 
people. Where is their God ? 

The Epistle.— It is the consolatory i^recept of our religion, that the sacrifice of "a broken and 
contrite heart " shall not be despised. That God is " slow to anger, and of great mercy," bearing 
with long-sufiering the offences of His creatures, and " repenting Him of the evil," that is, acting 
towards humbled and penitent offenders with so mucb compassion and fatherly kindness that He 
may seem to^ have changed His purpose, and to justify the use of the prophet's expression, " He 
repenteth Him of the evil," whereas it was in His own eternal and predetermined counsels to 
pardon all who should return to Him with unfeigned penitence and faith, for the sake of Him 
who had undertaken to be their Kedeemer. The passage from the prophet Joel is peculiarly 
adapted to a season of religious sorrow. It represents every class of the people, and whatever 
their own private circumstances may be, presenting themselves, under the guidance of the minis- 
ters of the altar, before their offended God. The exhortation, " Eend your heart, and not your 
garments," shows that even under the law, spiritual feeling, the deep and earnest sorrow of an 
afflicted conscience, was essential to the proper observance of a fast; If we neglect this principle 
wliile professing the Gospel, our exercises of humility or devotion can liave no value whatever, every- 
thing in the new and spiritual system of Jesus Christ having an immediate reference to the con- 
version of the heart. The most afflicting of misfortunes are those which indicate the withdrawal 
of tlie Divine presence. Some there are which may be regarded as the chastisements of a Father 
who stm watches over us, and blesses us ; but sad indeed is the condition of the people of wliom 
it may be questioned — " Wlieio is their r>iod ?" 

12^ 




THE FIKST DAY OF LENT. 



The Gospel St. Matth. vi. 16. 

HEN ye fast, be not as the hypo- 
crites, of a sad countenance : for they 
disfigure their faces, that they may 
appear unto men to fast. Verily I 
say unto you, They have their re- 
ward. But thou, when thou fastest, 
anoint thine head, and wash thy face, 
that thou appear not unto men to 
fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret ; and thy 
Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break 
through and steal ; but lay up for yourselves treasures in 
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and 
where thieves do not break through nor steal ; for where 
your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

The Gospel. — Our Lord himself states the principle above alluded to with all the force of 
divine authority. Two classes of persons fall into sin and ruin by the false notions which pre- 
vail respecting the merit of formal observances. The one imagines that righteousness may be 
found in a careful attention to outward ordinances; and, satisfying themselves by their strict 
obedience to the rule thence formed, they allow the mind and heart to remain under the do- 
minion of corruption. To the other class, the respect paid to even an appearance of sanctity 
offers the ready means of deceiving the world, and gaining for themselves a species of honour to 
which they could prefer no real claim. They win in many cases the good for which they labour, 
"they have their reward." Men regard tliem with reverence for their supposed self-denial and 
superiority to the ordinary weaknesses or corruptions of their nature. But God knows the 
secrets of their hearts ; and both in this case and the other, the only result of hypocrisy will be, 
confusion of face and despair when the soul has to render up its account. Fasting is for humi- 
liation, and not for display. It has no good in itself, but only in the end proposed, — the expres- 
sion of sorrow, and the subduing of unruly passions. A withdrawmg of the heart from the 
things of the world is the best result and the surest sign of our having fasted according to the 
rule laid down by Christ. Advice given by such a Being would ever be valuable to us were not 
our minds preoccupied by the suggestions of pride and folly. We acknowledge His wisdom, and 
how can we doubt His love ? The treasures which he tells us are not worth hoarding, may 
safely be regarded as of little value ; — for what species or form of good is there which He would 
teach us to squander, whose whole object it was to make us the heirs of all good ? No ! — He 
only warns us against laying up treasures upon earth because they are not in themselves worth 
our care,— and because, while employing our minds about the empty shadows which thus solicit 
our attention, we may miss the substantial and enduring glories of heaven. The heart will be 
where the treasure is; and little are they likely to advance in dignity and holiness whose hearts 
are here rather than with God. 




129 



s 



The First Sunday in Lent. 




LORD, who for our sake didst fast 
forty days and forty nights ; Give us 
grace to use such abstinence, that, 
our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, 
we may ever obey thy godly motions 
in righteousness, and true holiness, 
to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with 
the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world 
without end. Amen. 



The Collect. — The example of Christ both awes and encourages us. We feel how impossible 
it is that beings unused to the discipline of holiness, weak in heart and infirm of purpose, should 
be able to follow such a guide by any effort of nature. But the mingled sense of infirmity and 
love teaches us to seek support in the example itself as a source of life and power. The light 
which we would follow casts its rays, not in the distance merely, but into the depths of our hearts. 
" Give us grace," is the prayer of believers, as they contemplate with solemn admiration the ex- 
ample of their Lord ; and that grace bestowed, they find themselves " able to do all things " to 
the full measure and capacity of their being in its best and most exalted condition. It is not in 
particular ins^tances only that tl:iey are content to follow Him. The grace which they seek is the 
liviug principle tlmt leaves nothing within them unsubdued to the power of holiness, —nothing 
over which thev liave command unconsecrated to the honour and glory of their Saviour ! 

130 



THE FIEST SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Epistle, 2 Cor. vi. 1. 

E then, as workers together with 
hun, beseech you also, that ye re- 
ceive not the grace of Gocl in vain ; 
(for he saith, I have heard thee in a 
time accepted, and in the day of sal- 
vation have I succoured thee : be- 
hold, now is the accepted time ; be- 
hold, now is the day of salvation ;) 
gi^dng no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not 
blamed ; but in all things approving ourselves as the 
ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in neces- 
sities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, 
in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; by pureness, by 
knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy 
Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the 
power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right 
hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil 
report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as 
unknown, and yet well known ; as dying, and behold, we 
live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway 
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having 
nothing, and yet possessing all things. 

The Gospel St. Matth. iv. 1. 

HEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit 
into the wilderness, to be tempted of 
the devil. And when he had fasted 
forty days and nights, he was after- 
wards an-hungred. And when the 
tempter came to him, he said, If 
thou be the Son of God, command 
that these stones be made bread. 

The Epistle. — Divine grace is so precious a gift, ttat the richest treasures of nature and for- 
tune fall far short of its value. They may adorn the possessor with a lustre glorious in the sight 
of the world, and enable him to command the luxuries in which sense revels till satiated with 
enjoyment ; but the grace of God, not a name or a shadow, as the world supposes, gives the per- 
manent dignitv which will bear the inspection of Heaven as well as of the wisest of mankind. It 

131 





THE FIEST SUNDAY IN LENT. 



But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live 
by bread alone, but by eyery word that proceedeth out of 
the mouth of God. Then the deyil taketh him up into 
the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 
and saitli unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thy- 
self down ; for it is written, He shall giye his angels charge 
concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee 
up, lest at any time thou dash thj foot against a stone. 
Jesus said unto him, It is written again. Thou shalt not 
tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the deyil taketh him 
up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all 
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; and 
saith unto him. All these things mil I giye thee, if thou 
wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto 
him. Get thee hence, Satan ; for it is written. Thou shalt 
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serye. 
Then the deyil leayeth him, and behold, angels came and 
ministered unto him. 

confers tlie deei3ly-enjoyed delights to wliicli no worldly pleasure can ever be compared. The 
mind in its ordinary state wants the keen susceptibility which enables it to discover the full 
worth or beauty of things. Still less is it capable of understanding the sublimity of heavenly 
mysteries ; but the grace of God quickens and enlarges it. The good which exists becomes 
more perceptible ; the good which is to come more attainable. 

The Gospel. — The temptation in the wilderness, though at first sight an occurrence least to be 
looked for in the history of a being like Christ, afibrds one of the sublimest manifestations of His 
Divine character. It is not in repose that virtue of any kind is best displayed ; and the holiness 
of Him to whom the Spirit of truth was imparted without measure could only be fully proved by His 
immediate conflict with the spirit of error and evil. The circumstances attending this awful 
trial were pregnant with sacred mystery. It is not till after the strongest encounter with all 
natural desires and mere bodily weaknesses, the lengthened preparation of holy discipline, that 
Christ is exposed to the dark designs of Satan. He meets Him in silence and solitude. The gloom 
of the wilderness is around Him, and but for the indwelling light of His own soul, it would have 
been wholly desolate. Satan appeals first to His natural appetites. Failing in this attempt, he 
strikes at the living principle w^hich bound up all the human graces of Christ's nature in faith and 
love. Had the Son needed to prove the truth of the Father's word by the methods pointed out by 
the tempter, never could he have trusted himself to the Cross, or descended to the depths of the 
grave, exclaiming, " Thou wilt not sutfer thine Holy One to see corruption !" Again, therefore, Satan 
misses his aim. But he has still power in reserve ; and the several temptations to which our Lord 
was subjected seem to mark out the three great classes of trials to w^hich His followers, or mankind 
in general, stand exposed. Ambition furnished the snare. W'hereby the best and greatest minds 
that acknowledged the powder of evil became subject to its sway. Satan, it is probable, had but very 
inadequate views of our Lord's natm-e or character ; great, and wise, and good, He evidently was 
above all that He had encountered. The patriarchs of old, tlie sages of Greece and Kome, the 
kings and priests most renowned for fortitude, wanted the perfection of strength and lustre dis- 
played by this mysterious Peasant of Galilee. One mighty effort, therefore, was still to be made. 
The offer of a dazzling sovereignty had blinded before now the loftiest souls ; but it moved not 
the calm spirit of Jesus. Satan left Him, therefore, and hastened to his gloomy abode to prepare 
other trials — the Ci"oss, — the fierv arrows of death, — and the blackness of the grave ! 

132 



The Second Sunday in Lent. 






The Collect. 

LMIGHTY God, who seest that ayg 
have no power of ourselves to help 
ourselves ; Keep us both outwardly 
in our bodies, and inwardly in our 
souls ; that we may be defended 
from all adversities which may hap- 
.^^^ pen to the body, and from ah evil thoughts which 
•0: may assault and hurt the soul ; through Jesus Christ 
r; our Lord. Amen. 

I 

The Collect.— This simple and comprehensive prayer illustrates the greatness of the Christian's 
trust in the mercy of God. He feels how difficult it is to resist temptation, or control by mere 
prudence the adverse events of life. The world stretches around him, at one time a waste howl- 
ing wilderness, at another, a garden full of dangerous pitfalJs. Every path of existence has its 
dangers ; and the future, though ai^prehended by the teachings of the past, yields little of the 
sorrow with which it may be pregnant to the wisest precautions. But there is an equivalent for 
all these perils, — a compensation for all these natural or social disadvantages, — in the assurance 
that God will hear and answer us. Having "no power of ourselves to help ourselves," He 
becomes our tower of defence, and our present help in trouble. 

133 



THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 




tion. 



The Epistle. 1 Tliess. iv. 1. 

E beseech you, brethren, and exhort 
YOU by the Lord Jesus, that as ye 
have received of us how ye onght to 
walk, and to please God, so ye would 
abound more and more. For ye 
know what commandments we gave 
you by the Lord Jesus. For this is 
the will of God, even your sanctifica- 
that ye should abstain from fornication ; that ever)- 
one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanc- 
tification and honour ; not in the lust of concupiscence, 
even as the Gentiles which know not God ; that no man 
go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter ; because 
that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have 
forewarned you, and testified. For God hath not called 
us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that 
despiseth despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given 
unto us his Holy Spirit. 

The Epistle. — The doctriues and precepts of the Gospel are equally distinguished by their 
purity. Chiist is manifested to take a\^ay sin, and His blood is shed to cleanse the corrupted heart, 
and restore it to that state in which it may feel itself capable of loving what is good and inno- 
cent. The Holy Ghost — the Eternal Spirit of truth and holiness — the grand source of knowledge 
— the Fountain of sanctification — ^attends upon the redeeming sacrifice, and gives a new life to 
the delivered soul, every principle of which will act in the same du-ection as the will of God, and 
engage in the working out of His plans of good. In this manner, the doctrines of the Gospel — 
all its fundamental truths — are found to be the parts of a mighty system, not only for the asser- 
tion of the supremacy of righteousness, but for giving it that supremacy in the hearts of men, 
and securing to them a full share, both in time and eternity, of its sublimely-beneficial results. 
Precepts in every system must not only have a certain correspondence with the system, but must 
partake of its nature, and breathe of its life. Those of the Gospel, therefore, may be expected to 
exhibit a holiness as far. above that of other moral lessons, as the foundation on which they rest 
is grander than human sanctions. When taught by Christianity to be holy, we are referred for 
an account of what holiness is to the character of God : " Be ye holy, for I am holy ;"— to that 
of Christ, " "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth — to the nature of the Sanc- 
tifier, who baptizes as with a purifying fire. The beautiful consistency which thus exists be- 
tween all the parts of the Eeligion, ought to have its parallel in the minds and conduct of its 
professors. It was to convince them of this that the Founder himself urged the necessity of their 
proving their faith and love by their obedience ; — that He spoke so plainly of the dependence of 
knowledge upon doing the will of God;— and that His Apostles, following the same track of 
heavenly light, so interweaved the statement of doctrine with practical directions for a holy life, 
being, as it would seem, constrained by the blessed Spirit from ever dividing a system into parts 
which is one and entire as the will of the Almighty. Christians are made Christians by the 
action of Divine grace, which, when received at all, leaves no vital principle of humanity un- 
touched. The want of purity, therefore, or practical holiness, is an unanswerable proof that the 
religion has not been received, or that, if acknowledged, it has produced none of those eftects 
which are the only sure signs of a preparation for the freedom and blessedness of heaven. 

134 



THE SECOXD SUNDAY IN LENT. 



Tlte Gospel. St. Matth. xv. 21. 

ESUS went thence, and departed 
into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 
And behold, a woman of Canaan 
came out of the same coasts, and 
cried unto him, saying. Have mercy 
on me, Lord, thou Son of David ; 
my daughter is grievously vexed with 
a cle^dl. But he answered her not a 
word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, 
Send her away ; for she crietli after us. But he answered 
and said, I am not • sent, but unto the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, 
sa}ing. Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is 
not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to 
dogs. And she said. Truth, Lord ; yet the dogs eat of 
the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then 
Jesus answered and said unto her, woman, great is thy 
faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter 
was made whole fl'om that very hour. 

The Gospel. — This interesting narrative again brings the grandeiu- of the Eedeemer's power 
within the range of our sympathies. The woman of Canaan was of a poor and despised race, as 
characterised by all the circumstances of moral degradation and spiritual darkness. The Jews 
who received the Divine oracles as a precious trust, had proved themselves wholly unworthy of 
their sacred office. The bordering nations, therefore, derived no advantage from their neighbour- 
hood, and the insults contmually put upon them hy those who claimed the name and titles of 
holiness, tended to harden them more and more in the obstinate love of sin, " It is not meet to 
take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs," was the proverbial saying of the day, and re- 
peated by our Lord not as His sentiment, but to show what little reason the poor suppliant had 
to look for compassion from a Jew. There was, however, iu the woman herself a degree of pre- 
venting grace. Not all the people of the coasts of Tyre and Sidon w'ere prepared to address Him 
as Lord, and Son of David ;— to bear His repetition of the wonted rebuke, and fall down and wor- 
ship Him. Their degraded condition had too much darkeiied their hearts to admit of this happy 
recognition of the virtue which dwelt in Christ. The woman who came to Him was led by that 
mercy itself, whicli, before it wrought the outward miracle, had already wrought a greater 
miracle in the conversion and illuminating of her soul. " Great is thy faith was not said till 
due proof had been given of the strength of her belief. The firmness of her conviction was first 
tried by the disciples, who would fain have sent her away unanswered. It was then tried by our 
Lord himself, who replied to her request by a reference to the often-republished axiom, — that 
all spiritual good and honom- was to be bestowed exclusively on Gods chosen people. This 
answer to a mind less strengthened by grace would have seemed to shut it out by a stem neces- 
sity from the hope of mercy. But to the woman of Canaan it only gave fresh motives for an 
exercise of that faith which overpowers all rules and restrictions, and rejoices in triumphing by 
the sole streng-th of Divine love and pity. Still slie had another trial. The pride of the human 
heart was to be offered as a sacrifice, and gladly was it given. This completed the proof of 
Christ's power, and a spiritual and a visible miracle were wrought at the same moment. 

135 




The Third Sunday in Lent 




Collect 

E beseech thee, Ahiiighty God, look 
upon the hearty desires of thy humble 
servants, and stretch forth the right 
hand of thy Majesty, to be our defence 
against all our enemies ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Ameii, 



The Collect 



-If it be the duty of Christians not to use vain repetitions in then- prayers, 
it is equally their duty to observe well the full and proper application of the language which 
they employ in the foi-ms of supplication adopted by tlie Church. The present Collect is 
V V °^ shortest in the Liturgy, and to a careless eye may seem to contain only a single, 
and that a very general, petition. But if care be taken to analyse it, we shall see that, brief 
as it is, it conveys mucli sublime truth to the heart, and teaches us to pray in a language most 
conformable to the spirit of the Gospel. We address God as His servants : it is in that character 
only, or in that of His children, that we can ever properly beseech Him to look upon our hearty 
desires. In any other character, oui- desires will be such as His pure eyes can only behold with 
angry displeasure. Our hopes and wishes being conformable to the proper character of God's 
worshippers, we may rightly entreat Him to exercise His power in our defence, and to give us the 
means of triumphing over our enemies. Care should always be taken to consider tlie particular 
style and language of the prayers we adopt. That which we ask for as devout servants, and 
loving, tljough humble chilcken of God, we cannot properly request when we come before Him 
simply as penitent sinners, whose first, and, for the tim'o, wliose sole anxiety must be the 
forgiveness of their sins, — the removal of Divine wj'ath 

136 



THE THIED SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Epistle. Ephes. v. 1. 

E ye therefore followers of God, as 
dear children ; and walk in love, as 
Christ also hath loved us, and hath 
given himself for us, an offering and 
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smell- 
ing savour. But fornication, and all 
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it 
not be once named amongst you, as 
becometh saints ; neither filthiness, nor foolish-talking, 
nor jesting, which are not convenient ; but rather giving 
of thanks: for this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor 
unclean person, nor covetous man, w^ho is an idolater, hath 
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God. 
Let no man deceive you w4th vain w^ords ; for because of 
these thmgs cometh the wTath of God upon the children 
of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers Avith them : 
for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in 
the Lord ; w alk as children of light ; (for the fruit of the 
Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth ;) 
proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no 
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather 
reprove them : for it is a shame even to speak of those 
things w^hich are done of them in secret. But all things 
that are reproved are made manifest by the light : for 
whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he 
saith, Aw^ake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, 
and Christ shall give thee light. 

The Epistle —The portions of Scripture cliosen for this season of preparation have all an evi- 
dent relation to the grand rule, — " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." But it is the 
happy featiu-e of our religion that the service claimed is called for by the voice of fatherly tender- 
ness and beneficence. " Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children," is the language of the 
blessed Spirit : and lest we should be discouraged when considering oiu: helplessness and the great- 
ness of the work set before us, we are reminded of the love of Christ, who has made this way of 
honouring His Father not only manifest by His example, but easy by the powerful influences of 
His gTace. Many vain reasonings were employed by heathen philosophers to excuse the gross 
practices of the ancient world. Their ignorance of the truth is but a poor apology even for them ; 
conscience, and the proofs given by the outward world of the existence of a God, having been at 
all times sufficient to convince those who did not wilfully love darkness rather than light, of the 

137 ^ T 




THE THIED SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Gospel St. Luke xi. 14. 




ESUS was casting out a devil, and 
it was dumb. And it came to pass, 
when the devil was gone out, the 
dumb spake; and the people won- 
dered. But some of them said, He 
casteth out devils through Beelzebub, 
the chief of the devils. And others, 
tempting him, sought of him a sign 
from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto 
them. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought 
to desolation; and a house divided against a house 
falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how 
shall his kingdom stand? because ye say, that I cast out 
devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast 
out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? there- 
fore shall they be your judges. But if 1 with the finger 
of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is 
come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his 
palace, his goods are in peace ; but when a stronger than 
he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh 
from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth 
his spoils. He that is not with me is against me : and 

inexciisableness of sin. But if so little can be said for those who lived in times of general io^o- 
rance, how much less can be in-ged in defence of those who, at a period when the knowled<?e of 
ho mess IS shedding its lustre around them, still attempt to excuse, before God and men, the in- 
dulgence of degradmg vices ! That the wi-ath of God will come npon the children of disobedience 
is proved by the strongest arguments of nature, reason, and revelation. The follv of mankind 
Xl' ■'^l^-"'^ ^^^'^'"^ ^ satisfactory answer to these arguments; but the real 

St eng h of tins their answer consists in its being kept back; for were it brought into comparison 
^Ul he proofs of the dmne truth, whereby they will at last be judged, its utter insignificance 

tlan of ^TT ' Ti ^^^^^^^^ '^'^ Ple^«^^-e rather 

^ace whic "thirl;i . r^P^^-^'^^^ *° They prefer the momentary and uncertain 

from s^ atl^^^^^ f. . ^^'^ ^^^PPOsition that some excuse may exist for them, to ceasing 

from sm and the obtainmg of a sure and imperishable happiness. 

IHE l^osPEL.-It IS a curious fact, that the enemies of our Lord distinctlv ascribed His mira- 

tte r rPnlifV^ri irrT:- ^''^"^ ^^"^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^is works as to 

P^m ^7/^'^ ' ^^f' ^loubt was felt respecting their being performed by means whicli 

came not withm the range of earthly agencies. This circiunstance affords a verv striking species 
of evidence to the ti-uth of our religion. We are not disposed to believe in tiie power of evil 
rather than m the power of good. If blind men were in these davs suddenly made to see,-if the 
sick and the maimed were restored by a word, -and the dead even revived, at tlie simple bidding 
loo 



THE THIKD SUNDAY IN LENT. 



he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the 
unclean sphit is gone out of a man, he walketh through 
dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, 1 
will return unto my house whence I came out. And 
when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 
Then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits more 
wicked than himself, and they enter in, and dwell there ; 
and the last state of that man is worse than the first. 
And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain 
woman of the company lift up her voice, and said unto 
him. Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps 
which thou hast sucked. But he said. Yea rather, blessed 
are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it. 

of a deliverer, supposing that our senses convinced us of the i-eality of tbe fact, we should either 
endeavour to account for the wonder by natural causes, or by looking to the presence of Divinity. 
But if tbe laws of Nature could not be regarded as undoing that which had arisen from their ordi= 
nary operation, we should see no reason to prefer ascribing the supernatural wonder to any superior 
power rather than the power of Uod. Tiiere are, moreover, many circumstances to be taken into 
consideration in every question of this kind. The miracles were wrought for some end ; the nature 
of that end will help us to determine the source of the power by which they were wrought. But 
Christ's preaching, and every action which He performed, as well as every sentence He uttered, 
had a tendency the very reverse of that which marks the designs of evil. It needed not even the 
open casting out of devils to convince an unprejudiced observer that it was His aim to set up a 
kingdom, the establishment of which should be the ruin of the empire of darkness. Our great 
object, therefore, in the present day, is to give proper weight to the evidence which proves the 
reality of the miracles. The unsuspected testimony of the Jews to this point will go far to con- 
vince a mind free from prejudice that it deserves im]3licit credence ; while they who need not 
further arguments for the truth of their religion will regard the narrative as affording a valuable 
though melancholy proof of the corruption of the human heart. For what can more strongly con- 
vince us of our fallen and miserable condition than such a desire to escajDe from the plainest mani- 
festations of the Divine presence, or the teaching of divine truth ? If we have been cleansed, — 
if the spirit of evil have left the chambers of our hearts— let us take the warning conveyed by our 
Lord in the latter part of the Gospel. The mind unoccupied by God is ever likely to become the 
prey of a host of evil spirits, each stronger than the tempter that before held it in subjection. By 
seven spirits we are to understand, either an immense multitude of spirits, or a certain compact 
band of evil angels, the number seven being ordinarily used in Scripture with a mystical signi- 
fication of fulness and completeness; see 1 Sam. ii. 5, Isaiah iv. 1, and Kevelation i. 4, where the 
everlasting source of grace and spiritual life is represented as " the seven spirits ' which are before 
the throne of God. The exclamation of the woman who lift up her voice in obedience to the 
sudden emotion which the words of Jesus had inspired, was answered by an allusion to the truer 
relationship existing between Him and His people than that which springs from the circumstance 
of birth. It was thus He spoke on another occasion, saying, as He stretched forth His hand toward 
His disciples, "Behold My mother and My brethi'en," Nor ought we to be surprised that He 
should lay such stress on the superior claims of a spiritual kindred. The family of God's children 
in His heavenly kingdom are bound together by bonds that can never be broken. Their union 
springs from a perfect harmony of nature and principles— from a mutual interest in the pursuit ot 
truth and happiness ; and still more essentially from the oneness of the spirit of life of wliich they 
have all drunk, and to whose quickening influence they are indebted for their sonship with God, 
and their membership in Jesus Christ. " There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called 
in one hope of your calling." 

139 



The Fourth Sunday in Lent 




The Collect. 
RANT, we beseech thee, Ahiiighty 
God, that we, who for our evil deeds 
do worthily deserve to be punished, 
by the comfort of thy grace may 
mercilliily be reheved ; through our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 



The Collect— Confession of sin and iin worthiness is one of the best and most essential 
iugi-edieuts of prayer. The world, when forced to acknowledge its opposition to the divine 
law, offers a thousand reasons against the sentence being passed upon it which God's justice 
is prepared to pronounce. But the contrite penitent admits not only the commission of the offence, 
but that it merits the heavy punishment which the law has declared shall follow disobedience. Oiu- 
deeds are evil, say the bold, licentious, pleasure-loving votaries of the world,— compelled by reason 
and conscience to this confession ; oui- deeds are evil, also say the humble suppliants at the throne 
of grace ; but they add, we worthily deserve to be punished for these our offences ; and in that 
they honour God by an acknowledgment of His justice when He condemns the sinner; and by 
the most earne&t praise of His mercy when, through the operation of His grace, and tlie atoning 
merits of Clmst, he forgives and restores him. We should do well if we attended to these dis- 
tmctions ; and on all occasions questioned om-selves whether we be sufficiently impressed with awe 
at the danger to which sin exposes us, and thence feel how large a debt of gratitude we owe to 
Him bv whom the work of our deliverance has been wrou"ht 

140 



THE FOUETH SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Epistle. Gal. iv. 2i. 




ELL me, ye that desire to be mider 
the law, do ye not hear the law ? 
For it is written, that Abraham had 
two sons, the one by a bond-maid, 
the other by a free-woman. But he 
who was of the bond-woman was 
born after the flesh ; but he of the 
free-woman was by promise. Which 
things are an allegory : for these are the two covenants ; 
the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, 
which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, 
and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in 
bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is 
above is free ; which is the mother of us all. For it is 
written, Kejoice, thou barren that bearest not ; break 
forth and cry, thou that travailest not : for the desolate 
hath many more children than she which hath an hus- 
band. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children 
of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh 
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit ; even so 
it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture ? Cast 
out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the 
bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free- 
woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the 
bond-woman, but of the free. 



The Epistle— To beings wlio felt in themselves the working of a spirit which invariably 
pointed to good, and who knew no delight but that which springs from the exercise of pure and 
elevated virtue, the stricter and the more comprehensive the law under which they lived, the better 
would they be able to exhibit the noble purity of their nature. "While nothing could give them 
pleasure but that which at the same time set forth the excellence of the heavenly rule of right, 
they would have every reason to desire that their existence and happiness might always depend 
upon their conformity to its maxims. But if, on the other hand, this original adaptation of their 
nature to the divine law should no longer exist, — if the innate tendencies of both mind and heart 
should now be on the side of evil, and with all the resistance which may, from time to time, be 
offered from motives of thought and prudence, the weakness or corruption of nature should be 
allowed to overcome the suggestions of conscience, and the terrors of expected punishment, if such a 
change should have taken place, would it be wise in these beings to wish, as before, to be judged by 
the strictest and most unyielding law ? But this, in reality, is the case of those who, with the law 
and the Gospel before them, take the former rather than the latter for the foundation of their hopes. 

141 



THE FOUETH SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Gospel. St. John vi. h 

ESUS went over the sea of Gahlee, 
which is the sea of Tiberias. And 
a great multitude fohowed him, be- 
cause they saw his miracles Avhich 
he did on them that were diseased. 
And Jesus w^ent up into a mountain, 
and there he sat with his disciples. 
And the Passover, a feast of the 
Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lift up his eyes, and 
saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, 
Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? (And 
this he said to prove him ; for he himself knew what 
he would do.) Philip answered him, Two hundred peny- 
wortli of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one 
of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Anch'ew, 
Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him. There is a lad here 
which hath five barley-loaves and two small fishes : but 
what are they among so many ? And Jesus said. Make 

The justification of this choice must depend on the notion, either that a general fulfilment of the 
law will satisfy divine justice, or that there is virtue even in the apparent willingness to abide by so 
holy a rule, whatever be the consequence. To the former, it may be answered, that the express 
declarations and the essential character of tlie law fully prove that it requires a perfect and un- 
varying obedience ; and for the latter, that to a mind nobly set on the recovery of holiness, and 
anxious to see God glorified by obedience to his laws,— the old dispensation atfords not means for 
the attainment of such an object, while the system which has the righteousness of faith for its 
basis, suj^plies all that is required for its accomplishment, and proposes to bring back the fallen 
creatui'e to that state of freedom, and holiness of disposition, in which the love of goodness shall 
be the ruling principle of his soul. At the best we could but keep the law, as under bondage, as 
dreading the penalties of disobedience ; whereas the Gospel offers us the grace which, taking away 
the outward compulsion, bestows the inward and living principle of an obedient will. 

The Gospel. — None of the miracles of our Lord strike the mind as more mysterious than the 
one recorded in this Gospel. A divine power is manifested in all that He performed ; but He 
connected in other instances the mii'acle with the object by some sign, or action, which seemed to 
form a channel for the energy exerted. But here is no sign ; and the mind has to pass at once 
into the boundless ocean of omnipotence, with nothing to guide it in its search for explanation but 
the one simple truth, that God was manifest in the flesh. As a proof of divine power, none could 
have been given more striking and complete : but there are other views to be taken of this miracle. 
It was wrought to feed the fainting multitudes who had hastened to hear the preaching of Christ : 
and afibrded a testimony to the truth of His owm gracious promise, — " Seek ye first the kingdom 
of God, and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you." The multitudes 
were fed in the wilderness, where there was no opportunity of obtaining nourishment, and they 
were entirely dependent on divine mercy. This ought to teach us that, however destitute we may 
be as to earthly helps, and however desolate in our ijrosnects, we are in reality well and happily 

142 




THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 



the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the 
place. So the men sat clown, in numiber about five thou- 
sand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given 
thanlvs, he distributed to the disciples, and the chsciples 
to them that were set down ; and likewise of the fishes as 
much as they would. When they were filled, he said 
unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, 
that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them 
together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of 
the five barley-loaves, which remained over and above 
vuito them that had eaten. Then those men, when they 
had seen the mhacle that Jesus did, said. This is of a 
truth that Prophet that should come into the world. 

situated if the blessing of our God be vitli us. To rise superior to the consideration of circumstances, 
and be able habitually to fix the mind on the realities of truth, whether outwardly visible or not, 
is the grand triumph of noble souls. And this is the Christian's triumph— when he can look with 
serenity from the troubled scenes of the world to the unchangeable systems of heavenly love, and 
answer the questionings of his heart as to what may be about to come by casting his care on God, 
in the assurance that He careth for him. But if we may thus trust to His present mercy for the 
supply of om- natural wants, whatever be our condition, witJi stdl greater confidence may we look 
to Him in all seasons of spiritual necessity. The wilderness itself blossoms as a rose at His word, 
and the hard rock pours forth the gushing stream ! However much, therefore, we may lament 
the low state of rehgion in the age or country upon which we are thrown, as individuals, or as a 
Church, we may find bread in the wilderness if we seek it at the hands of Christ. " When they 
were filled. He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." 
The lesson conveyed in these words is one of economy ; but of an economy the best and noblest 
that can be practised. If in no case it is allowable " to take the children's bread, and cast it to 
dogs," much less can it be so to leave to utter waste the bread of life, even though that which 
remains after the plenty bestowed by God in seasons of extraordinary blessedness be but fragments 
of the feast. Our Lord himself feeds the people that gather round Him ; but while He satisfies 
them with the full bount}' of His mercy, He forgets not those who remain behind : He allows some- 
thing to remain ; and it is the especial duty of His chosen servants to gather up these fragments 
that nothing be lost. The sphitual application of the lesson is not difficult. Divine knowledge is 
communicated in different degrees of fulness or intensity. This is true of nations and churches as 
well as of individuals. The Holy Spirit can give as much light as is required for the fellowship of 
the prophets, the glorious company of the apostles, or the noble army of martyrs ; but the whole of 
this light is not required to lead a man to the Gospel, or to enable him to learn from its pages the 
doctrines of its Salvation. We should evidently err, however, if we concluded, because there ai-e 
these various degrees of grace and knowledge, and that the lowest degrees of sanctification maybe 
sufficient for the purpose, that therefore the abundance of the more gloriously gifted might be 
regarded as solely belonging to themselves. Their fulness, in fact, is to be the gain of the w hole. 
The knowledge they possess, — the strength wherewith they are endowed, — the courage which has 
been given them to meet the enemy, — all those qualifications and privileges which they enjoy above 
other men, and for which they are indebted to the especial favour of God, are part of the nourish- 
ment which remains for distant ages, -the nourislunent bestowed in the shape of well-described 
examples and powerful precepts of experience of grace given in answer to prayers streng-th 
resulting to the church from the communion of saints and a larger knowledge of the designs of 
God. IMany are the thousands that have been fed at different periods by the special gi-ace of God ! 
At the close of each feast fragments have remained ; and it is these which we must gather up, if 
we would lose nothing of that which Christ bestows for the nourishment of our souls. 

143 ^ 



The Fifth Sunday in Lent. 




The Collect. 

E beseech thee, Ahiiightj God, mer- 
cifully to look upon tliT people : that 
bv tliT great goodness they may be 
governed and preserved CA^ermore, 
both m body and soul ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — ^Tien God tiiins away His face, the world but indistinctly sees in the 
thickly-gatiiering cloud of calamities tokens of His wrath. But His jDeople trace these 
terrors to their source, and know that the prospects of mankind can only become bright 
again when the light of the Almighty's countenance once more breaks through, the gloom. 
In their own affairs, the children of God daily feel that, whatever of good they enjoy, the 
light wbicb beams on their dwellings and in their hearts flows directly upon them from the blessed 
regards of God. "V^'ell, therefore, may they beseech Him to look upon them with His wonted 
mercy ! — well may they desire that His goodness may be their support, and the foundation of their 
safety ! To those who rightly contemplate the nature of things, it will appear as the highest and 
best of privileges to feel that they belong to a class which can thus address God in the assm-ance 
of filial love. To be governed and preserved by Him, who upholds alLthings by the word of His 
power, is to possess a degree of security beyond which no idea or conception of safety can 
carrv us. 

144 




THF FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Epistle. Ileb. ix. 11. 

HRIST being come an High Priest 
of good things to come, by a greater 
and more perfect tabernacle, not 
made with hands; that is to say, 
not of this building ; neither by the 
blood of goats and calves ; but by 
his own blood, he entered in once 
into the holy place, having obtained 
eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and 
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the un- 
clean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh ; how^ much 
more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal 
Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your 
conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? 
And for this cause he is the Mechator of the new testa- 
ment, that by means of death, for the redemption of the 
transgressions that w^ere under the first testament, they 
which are called might receive the promise of eternal in- 
heritance. 

The Epistle.— No institution has ever existed so closely adapted by outward signs to convey 
spiritual truths as the Levitical system under Moses. The sacrifice bleeding on the altar taught 
the solemn doctrine, that without shedding of blood there is no remission, and pointed to a sacrifice 
inconceivably more precious than any that could thus be ofi"ered. The rite of circumcision con- 
nected the promises made to the fathers with the coming in of a better hope ; Jerusalem itself 
became a figure of that heavenly city where mansions are prepared for the just made perfect ; — 
tlie Temple on the consecrated hill of Sion was a type of that sanctuary in which God's glori- 
fied people worship round His throne ; and the high-priest represented Him who was to bring 
the sacrifice and jjour out the blood that should lay the innermost recesses of that sanctuary 
open to all mankind. But while it is interesting to trace, even in the most general outline, the 
figurative correspondence of the Jewish system to the sublime realities of the Gospel, the sub- 
ject becomes one of profound beauty when pursued in its details, and when the innumerable 
suggestions offered by every point of the system are followed according to the traces of spiritual 
thought. The intimate relation in which we stand to Christ, and the concern which we have in 
all that He did, renders whatever is taught on this matter, in the introductory dispensation, a 
subject of practical importance. To the Jew, the great Day of Atonement— that one solemn day 
of the year on which the high-priest entered the Holy of Holies— was fraught with the most 
awful associations. Ought we to feel less impressed with awe and gratitude when we meditate 
on the entrance of Jesus Christ into the true Holy of Holies, after having made the oftering of 
His own blood before the mercy-seat of His Father? Or ought we to think little of the won- 
drous privilege which has thereby been obtained for us of entering the Holy of Holies ourselves, 
—the veil having been rent, and the depths of mysterious love revealed, by a High Priest 
omnipotent through the worth of His sacrifice ? 

115 ^ u 




THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 



The Gospel St, John viii. 46, 

ESUS said, Which of you convinceth 
ine of sin? and if I say the truth, 
why do ye not believe me ? He that 
is of God heareth God's words ; ye 
therefore hear them not, because ye 
are not of God, Then answered 
the Jews, and said unto him. Say we 
not well, that thou art a Samaritan, 
and hast a devil ? J esus answered, I have not a devil ; 
but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And 
I seek not mine own glory ; there is no one that seeketh 
and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you. If a man 
keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the 
Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil : 
Abraham is dead, and the prophets ; and thou sayest, If 
a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 
Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is 
dead ? and the prophets are dead : whom makest thou 
thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour 
is nothing ; it is my Father that honoureth me, of whom 
ye say, that he is your God : yet ye have not known him ; 

The Gospel. — We view with astonishment the power manifested in the miracles of our Lord ; 
but we ought to regard with equal wonder His humility and gentleness. Pure as was His doc- 
trine, and untainted by the slightest leaven of selfishness as were all His actions, He could yet 
condescend to reason with His adversaries, while they only opposed him by fierce malice and 
prejudice. He could not be convinced of sin, for what sin is there in persuading men to serve 
God, to study His word, to keep his commandment, not only according to the letter, but in the 
spirit? Or where is the iniquity of healing the sick, of soothing sorrow wherever it is found, 
and overcoming evil, both natural and moral, though it cost us the intensest suffering ? No one 
would venture to say that there is sin in anything of this kind, except he could make it appear 
that the source of evil is also the author of good. But should it be for an instant supposed that 
the unwitnessed conduct of Jesus was different to that which the world beheld, we might an- 
swer the doubt by asking, how could a person situated as He was, and living as He must needs 
have done, always in public, have escaped detection had he been practising hypocrisy? His 
simple question, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" was evidently put in the full confi- 
dence that no one could accuse Him without violating every pretension to integrity. The 
searching inquiry, " If I say the truth why do ye not believe me ?" involved an accusation to 
which His persecutors could give no answer, either to Him or to their own consciences. He had 
said nothing for which there was not ample proof in the prophets, or in the grand outline wliich 
]jad been drawn of His doctrines in the whole of the old dispensation. His precepts were 
established on general and universal truth ; and the right which He had to proclaim Himself 

146 




THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. 



but I know him : and if 1 should say, I know him not, I 
shall be a liar like unto you; but I know him, and keep 



unto him. Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou 
seen Abraham ? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I 



went out of the temple. 

the Son of God was amply proved by His miracles. Christ appealed to the signs of His Father's 
presence for the proof of His divinity :— " If I honouF myself, my honour is nothing ; it is my 
Father that honoureth me/' By this appeal. He put the argument on its proper basis. It can- 
not be fairly reasoned that there are no infallible means whereby the Almighty may prove His 
presence ; or that a Being claiming the mysterious glory of an eternal Sonship could not mani- 
fest His union with the Father by tokens fully sufficient to demonstrate its reality. If a being, 
should pretend to such a dignity of nature, or claim the obedience due but to one sole Mediator 
between God and man, he would deserve no credit, unless the manifestation of power should be 
proportionable to the greatness of the pretensions. " If I lionour myself, my honour is nothing," 
is the very maxim which, of all others, the enthusiast or the impostor would refuse to adopt; 
but it is that by which Jesus ever expressed His desire to be tried;— that to which He exposed 
every assertion of His authority as a fair and righteous test, the sufficiency of which ought to be 
apparent to all. Had He honoured himself, the preaching of the Gospel would have consisted 
from the first of eloquent declamations respecting His wisdom and goodness ; and both He and 
His Apostles would have been contented to secure the allegiance of converts on any terms, and 
under any circumstances. But the contrary of this was the case. The passages which speak 
directly the praise of Christ are few ; and none are to be found which partake of the style of 
oratorical eulogies. Our admiratian of His virtue springs rather from the recital of his positive 
acts— from what is seen and known of His progress to the sufferings of a Eedeemer— than from 
any thing which is said of their origin in His personal goodness. Had He honoured himself, 
the praise bestowed upon each particular act of power, and on the dispositions from which it 
arose, would have occupied ten times as much space as is bestowed in the way of direct praise 
on the whole of His miracles. It was plainly the object of the writers of Scripture, as it had 
been that of Christ, to let His works speak for Him ;— to prove His graces by His acts, and His 
divinity by the record of miracles which could have been wrought by no power but God's. That 
His Father did honour Him is seen in these miracles,— in the fulness of His wisdom,— in the 
crowning wonder of His resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ! By this last 
instance of the Father's union with the Son, the Church is still assured of the truth of Christ's 
appeal. He honours not Himself by verbal claims to reverence ; His Father honours Him by 
showing, that, wherever His Gospel is received, there a Spirit of power and holiness blesses and 
seals men's souls. The answer which Christ thus returned to His enemies affords, when care- 
fully considered, an important addition to the internal evidence of the Gospel ; but it also con- 
veys to the mind of the believer a subject for profound meditation and thankfulness. Abraham 
saw His day and rejoiced at its coming, even before it had shed a gleam of lustre upon the earth. 
We live almost in the fulness of its noontide splendour. How madequate is our gratitude, how 
cold and feeble our apprehensions of the blessing to what they ought to be ! The fifth Sunday 
in Lent was formerly called Passion Sunday ; but only, it seems, because that immediately pre- 
ceding Easter is particularly designated Palm Sunday. 





147 



The Sunday next before Easter. 





The Collect, 

LMIGHTY and eyerlasting God, 
who, of thy tender love towards man- 
kind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour 
Jesus Christ, to take upon him our 
flesh, and to suffer death upon the 
cross, that all mankind should follow 
the example of his great humility ; 



THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE EASTER. 



Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of 
his patience, and also be made partakers of his resmTCC- 
tion ; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Epistle. Pliil. ii. 5. 

ET this mind be in you, which was 
also in Christ Jesus : who, being in 
the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be eqnal with God ; but made 
himself of no reputation, and took 
upon him the form of a servant, and 
was made in the likeness of men: 
and being found in fashion as a- 
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also 

The Collect. — The redemption of mankind is a theme on which the mightiest minds, aided by 
the ilhunination of the Divine Spirit, hare rested with a deep and ever-growing delight. But if 
the subject be thus sufficient to satisfy the loftiest intellects, it is equally calculated to fill the 
heart, however susceptible of right emotions, with the best and most affecting sentiments. Thus 
in the present Collect we are led to pray by the most animating of all suggestions, by motives of 
the greatest weight, and by appeals to our love and gratitude, irresistible if we have any part or 
lot with the people of God. The scheme of redemption could have no other origin than His mercy, 
which was from everlasting. That love which thus originated the plan was the living spirit of its 
fulfilment. His Son alone could brhig into operation a system conceived by the eternal love and 
all-perfect wisdom of God. No inferior being could have received the complete impression of the 
scheme, or contained the mighty influence of th.e grace essential to success. The Son of God, 
therefore, undertook the work. ' He emptied Himself of His glory ; assumed the nature of man ; 
and became obedient unto death. And thus He humbled Himself that we should follow the 
example of His great humility ; and that not simply, according to the lowest meaning of the 
words, but in their most spiiitual application. He who obeys them in this sense, will take up 
his cross, strive to overcome evil by good, and in all things manifest that he has died unto sin. 
The Sunday before Easter is usually called Palm Sunday, in reference to the triumphal entrance 
of our Lord into Jerusalem. Palms were formerly used in the processions of the Church ; but 
the custom was discontinued in England in the reign of Edward VI. 

The Epistle.— The Epistle affords a beautiful illustration of the sentiment expressed in the 
Collect, and teaches us where to find the root of all Christian holiness and morahty. In other 
systems, the doctrine or tlie precept is everything. The leader of the sect may inspire by his 
fervour the minds of his followers with a con-esponding energy ; but in Christianity, the very 
spirit itself of the master is to become, by more than a metaphor, the spirit of his people. " Let 
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," is a precept springing immediately from 
the natm-e of the Gospel. The recovery of man from the legal consequences or penalties of sin 
is but a part of this scheme of mercy. His complete renewal is the final object of tlie love of 
God ; and to this end it is that tlie Holy Spirit which descended upon Christ at His baptism, 
and which requickened His humanity in the grave, becomes the indwelling power of life and 
holiness to every regenerated believer in the Gospel. The mind of Chrisst was the perfect mirror 
of heavenly perfections. Eighteousness, benevolence, and wisdom, entered into all its determin- 
ations, and were the streng-th and glory of what it wrought. To have this mind in us, is not to 
follow its dictation merely, but to have the conforming spirit, the pervading hfe which gives 
holiness and wisdom an animation in the human soul of the same kind as that which bestows its 
everlasting power on the mind of Christ. 

149 




THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFOKE EASTER 



hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name which is 
above every name ; that at the Name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and 
things under the earth; and that every tongue should 
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father. 



^^^^^^^ the governour. Then Judas, who had 



was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the 
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 
saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the inno- 
cent blood. And they said. What is that to us ? see thou 
to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the 
temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself 
And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said. It 
is not la^vful for to put them into the treasury, because it 
is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought 
with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Where- 
fore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this 
day. (Then was fulfiUed that which was spoken by 
Jeremy the prophet, saying. And they took the thirty 
pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom 
they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them 
for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.) And 
Jesus stood before the governour; and the governour 
asked him, saying. Art thou the King of the Jews? And 
Jesus said unto him. Thou say est. And when he was 
accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered no- 
thing. Then saith Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not 
150 



The Gospel. St. Matth. xxvii. 1. 




HEN the morning was come, all 
the chief priests and elders of the 
people took counsel against Jesus, to 
put him to death. And when they 
had bound him, they led him away, 
and dehvered him to Pontius Pilate 



betrayed him, when he saw that he 



THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE EASTER. 



how many things they witness against thee? And he 
answered him to never a word, insomuch that the gover- 
nour marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governour 
was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they 
would. And they had then a notable prisoner, caUed 
Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, 
Pilate said unto them. Whom will ye that I release unto 
you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For 
he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he 
was set down on the judgment-seat, his mfe sent unto 
him, saying. Have thou nothing to do with that just man ; 
for I have suffered many things this day in a dream be- 
cause of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded 
the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy 
Jesus. The governour answered and said unto them, 
Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? 
They said, Barabbas, Pilate saith unto them, What shall 
I do then vnth Jesus, which is called Christ? They all 
say unto him. Let him be cracified. And the governour 
said. Why, what evil hath he done ? But they cried out 
the more, saying. Let him be cmcified. When Pilate 
saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a 
tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands 
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood 
of this just person :. see ye to it. Then answered all the 
people, and said. His blood be on us, and on our children. 
Then released he Barabbas unto them : and when he had 
scourged Jesus he delivered him to be crucified. Then 
the soldiers of the governour took Jesus into the common 
hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 
And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 
And when they had platted a crown of thorns they put it 
upon his head, and a reed in his right hand : and they 
bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, 
Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit upon him, and 
took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after 
that they had mocked him they took the robe off from 
him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away 
151 



THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFOKE EASTEK. 



to crucify him. And as they came out they found a man 
of Gyrene, Simon by name ; him they compelled to bear 
his cross. And when they were come unto a place called 
Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a scull, they gave him 
vinegar to drink mingled mth gah : and when he had 
tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified 
him, and parted his garments, casting lots : that it might 
be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. They 
parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture 
did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him 
there; and set up over his head his accusation written, 
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 
Then were there two thieves crucified with him ; one on 
the right hand, and another on the left. And they that 
passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying. 
Thou that destroyest the temple, and bulkiest it in three 
days, save thyself : if thou be the Son of God, come down 
from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking 
him, with the scribes and elders, said. He saved others, 
himself he cannot save : if he be the King of Israel, let 
him now come dovm from the cross, and we will beheve 
him. He trusted in God ; let him deliver him now, if 
he will have him : for he said, I am the son of God. 
The thieves also, which w^ere crucified with him, cast 
the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there 
Avas darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour: 
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 
saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sahachthani ? that is to say. My 
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Som^e of 
them that stood there, w^hen they heard that, said. This 
man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, 
and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it 
on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said. Let be, 
let us see whether Ehas will come to save him. Jesus, 
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the 
ghost. And behold, the vail of the temple was rent in 
twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did 
quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, 
152 



THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFOEE EASTEE. 



and many bodies of saints which slept arose, and came 
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the 
holj city, and ajDpeared unto manj. IsTo^v when the cen- 
turion, and they that were with him, watching J esus, saw 
the earthquake, and those things that were done, they 
feared greatly, saying. Truly this was the Son of God. 

The Gospel. — We now approach the solemn commemoration of our Lord's final sufferings ; 
and that this may be done with the devout sorrow which becomes such an occasion, the Church 
leads us into the society of those holy men who were appointed to be witnesses of His afflictions 
and triumphs. The feeling inspired l3y the contemplation of the history upon which we are enter- 
ing is not that which arises simply from sympathy or commiseration ; — it is mingled with a 
consciousness of shame, — of compunction, — of deep humiliation. We did not, it is true, stand in 
the judgment-hall of Pilate, and exclaim, " Crucify Him ! Crucify Him !" We had no share in 
suborning the false witnesses, nor did we heap scorn upon His head as He went toiling along the 
road to Calvary, — too weak to bear the Cross upon which He had strength of spirit enough to look 
for His body to be nailed. The revilings and curses which attended His death were not raised 
by us ; nor were we with those who, when He left the grave, liad a lie ready to contradict the 
mightiest demonstration of the Sphit of life. But for all this, we have ample reason to go to the 
Cross and weep there ; for the tragedy began with him in whom we all die ; and to tlie sin then 
introduced we have as willingly consented as we have sworn determined hostility to its companion 
— death. This makes us partakers in the whole atfair. We cannot pretend that we have sided 
with God against the world ; — that we have cherished His commandments as our rule of conduct ; 
— ^that we have not loved many forms of iuiquity, or willingly allowed ourselves to be deceived by 
Satan. Now all these are proofs of our intimate union with the party which crucified Christ. 
Sin was the cause of his sufferings ; and sin has a certain oneness and universality of essence 
which binds all whom it in any degree influences in the same bond of unholy enmity against God. 
But while we humble ourselves by these considerations respecting oin^ personal share in Christ's 
afflictions, we are happily called upon, at the same time, to meditate on the deliverance effected for 
us by His patient endurance of suffering. And let us imagine what our feelings would be if, when 
greatly oppressed by trouble, some generous-minded man should come to our reliefj having left his 
home and made a long and perilous journey solely for our sakes. Our hearts would be hard and 
rude indeed were they not moved to thankfulness. But the motive to gratitude would be still 
greater towards one, who seeing us stretched on a bed of sickness, and at the point of death, had 
come with a healing medicine when no one else dare venture into our presence, and who by so 
doing had, as was foreseen would be the case, fallen a victim to the disease, and was now to be 
seen stretched on the bed whence his healing balms had enabled us to arise. And these supposed 
instances of charity aflbrd but weak representations of the benevolence of Christ. He left for our 
sakes scenes of ineffable dehght and glory ; — He came to pay our debts, — to dismiss our inexorable 
creditors, — and save us from all the horrors of anticipated imprisonment. He came to us when we 
were on the point of expiring under the attack of a most grievous malady ; — when neither men 
nor angels could help us, and we were becoming melancholy instances of the power of inward cor- 
ruption. Then He shrunk not from the task of attempting our cure, but, entering our miserable 
homes, submitted Himself to the scourge of the plague, healed us, and sent us forth in the strength 
and gladness of recovered health ! It is with reflections of this kind that we should approach the 
scene of our Lord's sufferings as depicted by the living pencil of the Evangelists. The develop- 
ment of the mystery, — the consideration of the circumstances answering so minutely as they do to 
the tracings of prophecy, — will afford divine employment for the mind of the Christian during this 
week, described so emphatically as Passion Week, or the week of suffering. He will delight in 
walking in the footsteps of prophets, knowing for certainty the end which they at a distance saw 
would be accomplished. As they bid him farewell, he knows that the herald of the Lord is nigh ; 
and he will consider, as one intensely interested in the subject, His solemn announcement, "The 
kingdom of heaven is at hand." And when he has communed with John in the desert on the 
grace of repentance, now, by a species of anticipating revelation, called a change of mind, he 
beholds the Lamb of God approaching ; and is thenceforward occupied, heart and spirit, with the 
Saviours personal revelations of His own and His Father's love. 

153 ^ X 



Monday before Easter. 



fir' - 




For the Epktle, Tsai. Ixiii. 1 . 

HO is this that cometh from Edom, 
with dyed garments from Bozrah ? 
this that is glorious in his apparel, 
travelling in the greatness of his 
strength? I that speak in righte- 
ousness, mighty to save. Where- 
fore art . thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments 
lil^e him that treadeth in the wine-fat ? I have trodden 
the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none 
with me : for I mil tread them in mine anger, and 
trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled 
upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For 
the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my 
redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to 
help; and I wondered that there Avas none to uphold: 
therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and 
154 



MONDAY BEFOKE EASTEE. 



my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people 
in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I 
will bring down their strength to the earth. I will men- 
tion the' loving-kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of 
the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on 
us, and the great goodness towards the house of Israel, 
which he hath bestowed on them, according to his mercies, 
and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. 
For he said. Surely they are my people, children that will 
not lie: so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction 
he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them : 
in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and he 
bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But 
they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit; therefore he 
was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against 
them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and 
his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out 
of the sea with the shepherd of his flock ? where is he that 
put his Holy Spirit within him? that led them by the 
right hand of Moses, with his glorious arm, dividing the 
water before them, to make himself an everlasting Name ? 
that led them through the deep as an horse in the wilder- 
ness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth 
down into the vahey, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to 
rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a 
glorious Name. Look down from heaven, and behold 
from the habitation of thy holiness, and of thy glory: 
where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the sounding of thy 
bowels, and of thy mercies towards me? Are they re- 
strained ? Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abra- 
ham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not : 
thou, Lord, art our Father, our Eedeemer, thy Name is 
from everlasting. Lord, why hast thou made us to err 
from thy ways ? and hardened our hearts from thy fear ? 
Eeturn for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inherit- 
ance. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but 
155 



MONDAY BEFOEE EASTEK. 



a Jittlc while : our adversaries have trodden down thy 
sanctuary. We are thine : thou never barest rule over 
them : they were not called by thy Name. 

The EnsTLE. — The observation of the early part of this week, sometimes called the Great 
Weelv, as well as Passion Week, is traced back to the earliest times. It appears from what is 
said by Dionysius, who was bishop of Alexandria in the early part of the third century, that those 
who attended most strictly to the discipline of Lent, gTcatly increased their austerities this week. 
Till now, they allowed themselves refreshment at the close of day, and did not fast at all on the 
Sabbath ; but this week they passed in utter abstinence, or at least two, three, or four days of it. 
St. Chrysostom tells us, in one of his most eloquent commentaries, that this week was called the 
Great Week, because, in it, " The ancient tyranny of the devil was dissolved,— death was extinct, 
— the sti'ong man was bound, liis goods were spoiled, — sin was abohshed, — the curse was destroyed, 
— paradise was opened, — heaven became accessible ; men and angels were joined together, — the 
middle wall of partition was broken down, — the barriers were taken out of the way, — the God of 
peace made peace between things in heaven and things on earth : and therefore is it called the 
Great Week. And as this is the head of all other weeks, so the Great Sabbath is the head of this 
week, being the same thing in this week as the head is in the body. Wherefore many now in- 
crease their labours ; some adding to their fastings ; others to tlieir watchings ; others give more 
liberal alms ; testifying the greatness of the Divine goodness by their care of good works, and 
more intense piety, and holy living. As the Jews went forth to meet Christ, when He had raised 
Lazarus from the dead, so now not only one city but all the world go forth to meet Him, not with 
palm-branches in their hands, but with alms, deeds, humanity, virtue, fastings, tears, prayers, 
watchings, and all kinds of piety, which they offer to Christ their Lord. And not only we, but 
the emperors of the world honour this week, making it a time of vacation from all civil business, 
that the magistrates, being at liberty from business of the law, may spend all these days in spiritual 
service. Let the doors of the coui-ts, they say, now be shut up ; — let all disputes, and all kinds of 
contention and punishment cease ; — let the executioners' hands rest a little. Common blessings are 
wrought for us all by our common Lord : let some good be done by us. His servants. Nor is this 
the only honour they show this week ; they do something else still more considerable. The im- 
perial letters are sent abroad at this time, commanding all prisoners to be set at liberty from their 
chains. For as our Lord, when He descended into hell, set those free that were detained by 
death, so the servants, according to their power, imitating the kindness of their Lord, loose men 
from their corporal bonds when they have no power to relax the spiritual." — See Chi-ysos., Horn, in 
Psal. 145 ; and Antiquities of Christ. Ch., B. xxi. c. 1, sec. 24. The additional fasts thus observed 
were called Superpository Fasts, or fasts joined one to another by a long-continued abstinence. 
But it was not, we see, by acts of mortification only that the early Christians observed this solemn 
period of reflection: Charity then put forth its might. It was especially ordered that, "In the 
whole Great Week, and the week following, servants should rest from their labom- : the one being 
the time of our Lord's passion, and the other that of His resurrection," " The holy days," it was 
moreover said, " of the last week in Lent is the time when the bonds of debtors are wont to be 
loosed ;" and the suspension of law-suits was, by a special enactment, continued to the end of 
the following week. The Christian delights in contemplating these noble instances of the power 
of his religion, as exhibited in its earliest triumphs. If the calm of the Sabbath and the genial 
influence of its services produce impressions on society highly conducive to its happiness, the 
same blessed results must doubtlessly follow the devout observance of other periods of religious 
rest. Little is gained to the world by its eager employment of every week and day in secular 
concerns : were more time given to the exercises of penitence and faith, it would be both ^^iser 
and happier. 

The portions of Scripture chosen for the services of this period were carefully selected by the 
compilers of the reformed Liturgy. They exhibit the most important of the prophecies relating to 
the character and sufferings of our Lord, and then present the complete evangelical liistory of their 
fulfilment. Isaiah saw, in the spirit, tlie triumphs as well as the sorrows of the coming Messiah. 
He beheld Hun pouring out His soul unto death ; but He saw Him also returning from the land 
of the enemy — a mighty conqueror, the honour of the victory all His own, "glorious in His 
apparel, travelling in tlie greatness of His strength !" 

156 



MONDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



The Gospel. St. Mark xiv. 1. . 

FTER two days was the feast of the 
Passover, and of unleavened bread: 
and the chief priests and the scribes 
sought how they might take him by 
craft, and put him to death. But 
they said. Not on the feast-day, lest 
there be an uproar of the people. 
And being in Bethany, in the house 
of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a w^oman 
having an alabaster box of omtment of spikenard, very 
precious ; and she brake the box, and poured it on his 
head. And there were some that had indignation within 
themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment 
made ? for it might have been sold for more than three 
hundred pence, and have been given to the poor : and 
they murmured against her. And Jesus said. Let her 
alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good 
work on me : for ye have the poor with you always, and 
whensoever ye will ye may do them good ; but me ye have 
not always. She hath done what she could ; she is come 
aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily, I 
say unto you. Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached 
throughout the w4iole world, this also that she hath done 
shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. And J udas Isca- 
riot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests to betray 
him unto them. And when they heard it they were glad, 
and promised to give him money. And he sought how 
he might conveniently betray him. And the first day of 
unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his dis- 
ciples said unto him. Where wilt thou that we go and 
prepare, that thou may est eat the passover? And he 
sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, 
Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bear- 
ing a pitcher of water ; follow him : And wheresoever he 
shall go in, say ye to the good-man of the house. The 
157 




MONDAY BEFOEE EASTER. 

Master saith, Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall 
eat the passover with my disciples ? And he will shew 
you a large upper-room furnished, and prepared: there 
make ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and 
came into the city, and found as he had said unto them : 
and they made ready the passover. And in the evening 
he Cometh with the twelve. And as they sat, and did 
eat, Jesus said. Verily I say unto you. One of you which 
eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be 
sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one. Is it I ? and 
another said. Is it I ? And he answered and said unto 
them, It is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the 
dish. The Son of Man indeed goeth, as it is written of 
him : but wo to that man by whom the Son of Man is 
betrayed ; good were it for that man if he had never been 
born. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, 
and brake it, and gave to them : and said. Take, eat : this 
is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given 
thanks he gave it to them : and they all drink of it. And 
he said unto them. This is my blood of the New Testament, 
which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will 
drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that 
I drink it new in the Kingdom of God. And when they 
had sung an hymn they went out into the Mount of Ohves. 
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended be- 
cause of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the 
shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But, after 
that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But 
Peter said unto him. Although all shah be offended, yet 
will not I. And Jesus saith unto him. Verily I say unto 
thee, that this day, even in this night, before the cock 
crow t^^dce, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the 
more vehemently. If I should die with thee, I will not 
deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. And 
they came to a place which was named Gethsemane : and 
he said to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 

And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and 
158 ' ' 



MONDAY BEFOKE EASTEE. 



began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and saith 
unto them, My soul is exceedmg sorrowful unto death ; 
tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, 
and fell on the ground, and prayed, that, if it Avere pos- 
sible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, 
Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this 
cup from me ; nevertheless, not what I will, but what 
thou wilt. And he cometli and findeth them sleeping, 
and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou ? couldest not 
thou watch one hour ? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter 
into temptation : the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is 
weak. And again he went away, and prayed, and spake 
the same words. And when he returned he found them 
asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they 
what to answer him. And he cometh the third time, and 
saith unto them. Sleep on now, and take your rest : it is 
enough, the hour is come ; behold, the Son of Man is be- 
trayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go ; lo, 
he that betrayeth me is at hand. And immediately, while 
he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with 
him a great nmltitude with swords and staves, from the 
chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders. And he 
that betrayed him had given them a token, saying. Whom- 
soever I shall kiss, that same is he ; take him, and lead 
him away safely. And as soon as he was come, he goeth 
straightway to him, and saith Master, master; and kissed 
him. And they laid their hands on him, and took him. 
And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote 
a servant of the high priest, and cut off" his ear. And 
Jesus answered, and said unto them. Are ye come out as 
against a thief, with swords and with staves, to take me ? 
I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took 
me not : but the Scriptures must be fulfilled. And they 
all forsook him, and fled. And there followed him a 
certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his 
naked body ; and the young men laid hold on him : and 

he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. And 
159 ^ 



MONDAY BEFOKE EASTER 



they led Jesus away to the high priest : and v^ itli him were 
assembled all the chief priests, and the elders, and the 
scribes. And Peter followed him afar off, even into the 
palace of the high priest ; and he sat with the servants, 
and warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priests 
and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to 
put him to death ; and found none. For many bare false 
witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. 
And there arose certain, and bare false witness against 
him, saying. We heard him say, 1 will destroy this temple 
that is made with hands, and within three days I will 
build another made without hands. But neither so did 
their witness agree together. And the high priest stood 
up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou 
nothing ? what is it which these witness against thee ? 
But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the 
high priest asked him, and said unto him. Art thou the 
Christ, the Son of the Blessed ? And Jesus said, I am ; 
and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right 
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 
Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith. What 
need we any further witnesses ? ye have heard the blas- 
phemy : what think ye ? And they all condemned him to 
be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, and 
to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him. 
Prophesy : and the servants did strike him with the palms 
of their hands. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, 
there cometh one of the maids of the high priest ; and 
when she saw Peter warming himself she looked upon him, 
and said. And thou also wast mth Jesus of Nazareth. But 
he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what 
thou say est. And he went out into the porch ; and the 
cock crew. And a maid saw hini again, and began to 
say to them that stood by. This is one of them. And he 
denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by 
said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them ; for 

thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But 
lf)0 



MONDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



he began to curse and to swear, savmg, I know not this 
man oJf whom ye speak. And the second tmie the cock 
crew. And Peter called to mmd the word that Jesus 
said unto him. Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt 
denj me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. 

The Gospel. — As the account whicli St. Matthew gives of our Lord's apprehension and cruci- 
fixion was read on the preceding day, so the Evangelist nest in order furnishes the present Gospel. 
There is that close harmony in the four narratives thus given which we have a right to look for in 
the recital of witnesses like the Evangelists ; but, at the same time, there is that diiference of style, 
and those slight varieties in tlie statement of some minor circumstances, which, without their being 
contradictory, convince us that the witnesses to the truth of the events recorded were independent 
of each other. Thus while the other Evangelists simply mention, in general terms, that our Lord 
was crucified between two malefactors, and say that they joined in the revilings which the mul- 
titude hurled against Him, St. Luke particularises the circumstances of this part of the narrative, 
and informs us that it was only one of the thieves who railed on Him, the other repenting and 
believing in that hour of his agony. Thus, also, we find it stated by St. Mark, that " it was the 
third horn-, and they crucified Him,"' while St. John speaks of the sixth hour. More than one 
explanation may be given of tliis seeming diflBculty ; but the simplest is, tliat the two Evangelists 
were speaking according to different modes of computing the hours of the day, which being divided 
into twelve parts, reckoned from sim-rise to sun-set, the first hour answered to our six in the morn- 
ing, the third to nine o'clock, and the sixth to noon. But the day was also divided into four parts, 
also called hours ; and the beginning of the third of these parts would answer to the period men- 
tioned by St. John as " about the sixth hour." Some other slight points of difference admit 
similarly of an easy explanation, and by thefr incidental occiurence confute the suspicion of con- 
cert or deceit. To those who feel interested in the narrative of the Gosi^el in any degree propor- 
tionably to its vast importance, the repetition of the history of Christ's suflerings will afford motives 
for the deei3est gratitude. Let us receive some floating general report respecting an event which 
greatly concerns our happiness, and how anxiously do we look for some one on whose acquaintance 
with the subject we may more properly place reliance ? But should the matter be one which affects 
cm- health, character, and fortune, — should it be one on the issue of which the comfort of our whole 
life is necessarily depending — it is not the word of a single witness that would set oiu" minds at rest. 
We should anxiously look for some one who might confirm his statement ; and then for another, 
and another, from whose lips we might learn whether any circumstance of importance had oc- 
curred to modify the earlier reports ; or whether we might now fairly rest in the conviction that we 
had been made acquainted with all that it concerned us to know. Were we as practically in- 
terested in the mysteries of redemption as we are in the transitory affairs of the world, the value of 
the many provisions made for our instruction in the truth would not be so little understood. The 
evidence of every point of our religion is given, as well as the religion itself, by the Almighty and 
the All- Wise. It is measured and compacted with a most perfect adaptation to the weight which 
it has to support, or the wide -stretching recitals which it has to bind together in harmonious con- 
sistency. That we do not at once perceive the sufficiency of the evidence, or the benevolence 
involved in the j)eculiar character which it assumes, is to be ascribed to the same cause as our 
unwillingness to obey the spiritual precepts of the system. We should, therefore, earnestly question 
ourselves, when following the repeated narrative of Christ's sufferings, whetlier it be a mental or a 
moral indifference which allows us to remain so cold while the Redeemer of the world is being 
" crucified before us?" If the former, let us ask what event has ever had so awful a claim upon 
the powers of inquiry and meditation as that recorded in the lessons of this sacred season ? Let us 
have the courage to acknowledge that, whatever may be the subject which entices us from the con- 
templation of Christ's sufferings, it is inferior to that which opens the counsels of God's love, and 
shows them both in progress and completion. If, on the other hand, the cause of our indifference 
be found in the reiJugnancy of our moral feelings to what is heavenly and spiritual, — if it be seen 
that the cross of Christ presents an image to our imagination which no rising sentiment of peni- 
tence connects with thoughts of recovered peace and glory, — then we may profitably ask ourselves 
whether we have no need to be reconciled with God ; or whether it is probable that tliis earthliness 
of nature and feeling can exist consistently with anv pretensions to immortality, or futm-e happiness ? 
161 . ' Y 



'Tuesday before Easter. 





Isai. 1. 5. 



For the Ejmtlt 

HE Lord God hath opened mine 
ear, and I was not rebelhous, nei- 
ther turned away back. I gave my 
back to the smiters, and my cheeks 
to them that plucked off the hair : I 
hid not my face from shame and 
spitting. For the Lord God will help me, therefore 
shall I not be confounded : therefore have I set my 
face like a flint, and I know that I &hall not be 
ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will 
^1 contend with me ? Let us stand together ; Avho is 
mine adversary ? let him come near to me. Behold, 
the Lord God will help me ; who is he that shall condemn 
me ? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment : the moth 
shall eat them up. Who is among you that feareth the 
Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh 
in darkness, and hath no light ? let him trust in the Name 
162 



TUESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



of the Lord, and stav upon his God. Behold, all ye that 



The Epistle. — Isaiali writes in the language of one who already felt what it is to be sorrowful 
for sin with the siitierings of a Eedeemer in yiew. In the above passage, the comiDg Messiah is 
described as ottering Himself vrith ready obedience to the will and dispensations of His heavenly 
Father. His ear was opened to receive the stern behests of nnerring justice : — it listened to the 
decrees on which, as an eternal foundation, the whole structure of created being was raised ; and 
when it was required that, like a servant, tiie Son of God sliould yield Himself to the humiliations 
of mortality. He refused not to let His ear be opened as one willingly yielding Himself to bondage. 
(Psalm xl. 6 ; Exod. xxi. 6.) But the submi;sion of Christ to the will of His Father was not ex- 
pressed merely in the act of assuming our nature : it imposed upon Him the necessity of exposing 
Himself to the dark and wanton cruelty of the world. And to this He willingly submitted, in- 
fluenced solely by the mercy which prompted Him to begin the work of onr salvation. "I gave 
my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them which plucked off the hair. I hid not my face" 
from shame and spitting ;" expressions which describe the worst insults that can be heaped upon 
the head of man, and which were peculiarly infamous among the Jews. It is observed by 
Sir John Chardin, as quoted by Bisliop Louth, that spitting before any one, or spitting upon the 
ground in speaking of any one's actions, is, through the East, an expression of extreme detestation. 
These were tlie insults whicli He bore " who had done no sin," but whose whole career was cha- 
racterised by the subhmest virtue and humanity. The world regards patience and forbearance as 
pusillanimity ; and true it is that they do not always arise from any better motive than some mean 
regard for personal interests or safety. But this coirld not be the origin of Christ's gentleness and 
submission ; there being in reality, though little attended to, no virtue in Him more nobly or fully 
manifested than courage and resolution. "Xo I He had a pm-pose to effect, a purpose of goodness 
and love, by his patient endurance of insult and afdiction ; and He " set His face as a tiint,"' in 
the assurance that the Almighty Father was near, ready to justify Him, and support His cause ! 
The concluding verse contains a solemn exhortation to the proud and self-sufficient, whatever be 
then- rank or then behef. There is a feeling hi the human heart which none can gainsay; — a 
feeling of dependence and responsibility, which, were it not stifled in our coromerce with the world, 
would lead us, in deploring our helplessness, to seek strength from God. But we are ever seeking 
to overcome this sense of dependence on any power except our own. The cure for weakness, the 
supply of necessities, is never supposed to exist in an appeal to the great Source of strength, bat 
must always be foimd somewhere in the world, or by some ingenious employment of its complicated 
machinery. Thence spring the various inventions and contrivances with which we attempt to 
resist the opposing winds and currents of human life ; — thence it is that some think by money, 
others by power, and a still greater number by obeying eveiy impulse of passion, and every sug- 
gestion of vanity, to overcome the difficulties which meet us in the search after happiness. "We 
" kindle a fire," we " compass om'selves about with sparks — we '* walk in the light of our fire, 
and in the sparks that we have kindled." And that which is done by mankind at large, considered 
in their personal views and characters, has been done by chui'ches, the most extensive and the most 
renowned. Forgetting their origin and foundation, they have looked for strength and a living 
spirit in the mere materiality and form of their own constitution. Agreeably to this notion, they 
have hedged themselves around with defences to which they have trusted with more or less dis- 
regard of the divine blessing. Their support has been the arm of power or the influence of wealth ; 
— the means of patronage, or the impression which might be made on men's minds by outward 
displays of authority and pomp. They have kindled a fii'e, and compassed themselves about with 
sparks ; but both in their case and in that of individuals the warning of the prophet is literally 
fulfilled, God cominces them of their folly, and " they lie down in sorrow." History on the one 
hand, and personal experience on the other, prove the truth of this remark. No chm-ch, no sect 
even, exists, which does not offer some illustration of the lesson ; and it would be well for us all 
were we often strictly to examine ourselves on the subject, never forgetting that while we read 
the word of God, the eye of God is upon us. 




163 



TUESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 




The Gospel. St. Mark xv. 1. 

ND straightway in tlie morning tlie 
chief priests held a consnUation with 
the elders, and scribes, and the 
whole council, and bound Jesus, and 
carried him away, and delivered him 
to Pilate. And Pilate asked him. 
Art thou the King of the Jews ? And 
he answering said unto him. Thou 
sayest it. And the chief priests accused him of many 
things : but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked 
him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how 
many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet 
answered nothing : so that Pilate marvelled. Now at 
that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whom- 
soever they desired. And there was one named Barabbas, 
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection 
with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. 
And the multitude, crying aloud, began to desire him to 
do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate answered 
them, saying. Will ye that I release unto you the King 
of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had 
delivered him for envy. But the chief priests moved 
the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto 
them. And Pilate answered, and said again unto them, 
What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye caU 
the King of the Jews ? And they cried out again, Crucify 
him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath 
he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly. 
Crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content the peo- 
ple, released Barabbas unto them, and deliA^ered Jesus, 
when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the 
soldiers led him away into the hall, called Pr^etorium ; 
and they call together the whole band. And they clothed 
him with puiple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put 
it about his head: and began to salute him. Hail, King 



TUESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



of the Jews. And they smote him on the head with a 
reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing then knees, wor- 
shipped him. And when they had mocked him they took 
off the purple from him, and put his o^yn clothes on him, 
and led him out to crucify him. And they compel one 
Simon a Cpenian, who passed by, coming out of the 
country, the father of Alexander and Kuftis, to bear his 
cross. And they brmg him unto the place Golgotha, 
which is, being interpreted. The place of a scull. And 
they gave him to drink ^^^ne mingled ^vith myrrh ; but he 
received it not. And when they had crucified him they 
parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every 
man should take. And it was the third hour, and they 
crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation 
was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And 
with him they crucify two thieves, the one on his right 
hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was 
fulfiUed, which saith. And he was numbered with the 
transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, 
wagging their heads, and saying. Ah, thou that destroyest 
the temple, and bulkiest it in three days, save thyself, and 
come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests 
mocldng said among themselves, with the scribes. He 
saved others ; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the 
King of Israel descend now fi'om the cross, that we may 
see and believe. And they that were crucified with him 
reddled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there 
was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 
And at the nhith hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 
saymg, Eloi^ Eloi^ lama sahachthani f which is, being inter- 
preted. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? 
And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, 
said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a 
spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him 
to di'ink, saying. Let alone ; let us see whether Ehas will 
come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud 
voice, and gave up the ghost. And the vail of the temple 
165 



TUESDAY BEFOKE EASTEE. 



was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when 
the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he 
so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this 
man was the Son of God. 

The GosPEL.-We continue the contemplation of our Lord's humiliation ; and the simplicity of 
the Evangelist s recital enables us to see, as in a broad and luci^ mirror, the solemn procession of 
events This unaffected clearness of narration gives additional force to the evidence of its correct- 
ness; the Evangelists showing thereby that, like their Master himself, they had no object but to 
make known the truth. The circumstances attending the apprehension and crucifixion, are par- 
ticularised with an awful distinctness. It was in the darkness and gloom of night that Jesus 
resigned Himself to the power of His adversaries. Malice is ever wakeful, and the hours of that 
eventful night we^^e fully occupied. The high-priest had prepared himself for His coming ; and 
the greater pai-t of the Sanhedrim were gathered round their chief, eagerly looking for the appear- 
ance of Him at whose word they had trembled, but whom they now hoped to see prostrated by the 
vigour of their counsels. There was more of difiiculty in tlie proceeding than could bo known to 
casual observers; and tlie assembling of the chief priests, together with the elders and scribes at 
such an unseasonable hour for deliberation, seems to indicate that they had not yet fully determined 
what course to pursue. The right of condemning a criminal to death was taken from them by tlie 
Komans ; and they dare not venture, at present, on any sudden act of violence, or on overstepping 
itbA'l Tf """^ f"!!^"'"' conquerors. Though, therefore, they had little reason to 

doiibt that Jesus might be apprehended, they were still far from being sm-e of a triumph. They 
sWd l^"" condemn Him accordingto their law, but there theymust leave Him, unlessHis guilt 
should be apparent to the Eoman governor, or they might be able to overrule the heathen's sense 

rlnt7 ^ ""'"'^ P'"""^^'''- '^''^ P"^-P°«^ either of these methods, 

lequued a real or pretended conviction of the prisoner. A long time was spent in the effort to 
p ocure some proof o His guilt. Witnesses had been prepared, but corrupt as were the judges 
hey dare not admit the testimony, which involved manifest contradictions. In this state of things 
the high-priest himself undertook the task of showing the guilt of Jesus, which he suddenly 
pronounced to be sufficiently manifest by our Lord's assertion of His divinity. With the dawn of 
day, the same fierce band of traitors to God and truth assembled round the judgment-seat of Pilate 
ihe accusation they bring is one not easily comprehended by a heathen; but he discovers their 
envy and mjustice, and a secret feeling of awe, inspired by the gentleness and dignity of Christ 
inclines him to take part with the accused rather than the accusers. But it was the hour in which 
evil had Its appomted triumph. The weakness and selfish fears of Pilate soon overpowered every 
other feeling; and though a judge, and the officer of a people not favouring open injustice, he 
delivered the most innocent of beings, while convinced of His innocency, to be crucified Such 
was the testimony borne by a man of the world to the injustice of Christ's enemies ; and such is 
the proof winch we derive from his conduct, that the most perfect innocency would at any tune be 
left to perish were there not a better protection for it than the world's acknowledgment of its woi-th 
The confession of the Centurion is strikingly interesting when viewed in connexion with the doubts 
and questions of Pila e. To the latter the innocence of Jesus appeared manifest ; and a feeling of 
awe and curiosity had evidently impressed him with sentiments of a higher kind than those which 
sprung from the mere sense of justice. But the former witnessed the death of Jesus • and the 
evidence of His divmity increasing amid the darkening gloom of his sufferings, the Eoman soldier 
saw c early the mystery of whicli the Eoman governor had only caught some strange and bewilder- 
ing glmipse The conduct of both these men-the unwillingness of the one to condemn, and the 
open declaration of faith by the other-throws a darker shade upon the obduracy of the Jews 
They had never read the prophets, -they had received no aids to thought from the discipline of a 
ho y education. Whatever degree of respect they felt for the character of Jesus was derived 
entire y from what they momentarily beheld. The Jews, on the other hand, possessed every 

exiTa'Sn 1 2' '"T' °Vr'''i"^' *° ^"^'^^ ""—'^^ P-i-^^-« -^-^^ -^S^ 

exist against the poveriy and humiliation of our Lord. Their prophets had taught them in wLt 

form they ought to expect the Messiah ; and had they been willing to consider the predictions 

of these inspired men m conjunction with the miracles and discourses of Christ, they would not 

have left It to a heathen soldier to make the first confession of belief at the foot of the Cros. - 

that great altar of sacrifice for all the worid 

166 



Wednesday before Easter. 





The Epistle, Heb. ix. 16. 

HERE a testament is, there must 
also of necessity be the death of the 
testator : for a testament is of force 
after men are dead; otherwise it is 
of no strength at all whilst the tes- 
tator liveth. Whereupon, neither 
the first testament was dedicated without blood ; for 
/| when Moses had spoken every precept to all the 
I people, according to the law, he took the blood of 
1 calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and 
hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 
saying. This is the blood of the testament, which God 
hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with 
blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the 
ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged 
with blood ; and without shedding of blood is no remis- 
167 



WEDNESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



sion. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of 
thmgs m the heavens should be purified with these ; but 
the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than 
these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places 
made Avitli hands, which are the figures of the true, but 
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
for us ; nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the 
high priest entereth into the holy place every year with 
blood of others; for then must he often have suffered 
since the foundation of the world ; but now once in the 
end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of himself And as it is appointed unto men 
once to die, but after this the judgement : so Christ was 
once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them 
that look for him shall he appear the second time without 
sin unto salvation. 

The Epistle.— The Epistle for this day teaclies us the important truth, that the death of Christ 
was required for the twofold purpose of cleansing and redeeming us. " Almost all things are, by 
the law, purged with blood ;" and "It was necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens 
should be purified with these ; but the heavenly tilings themselves with better sacrifices than 
these." Here we are instructed respecting the purifying influence of the blood of the sacrifice, 
and its absolute necessity to the confirming of a covenant, or the sealing of a testament ; but in 
the following passage our thoughts are directed to the redeeming efiicacy of Christ's sacrifice, in 
offering which He is compared to the high-priest entering into the holy place on the Day of 
Atonement, and bearing with him the blood of a victim, on whose devoted head had typically 
been laid the sins of the whole nation. No portion of Scripture could better teach us to read with 
gratitude the narrative of our Saviour's sufferings. To be cleansed from the contamination of sin, 
and to be delivered from its power, is the desire of every being who looks upon himself as allied 
to heaven. Tlie gladness of the tidings which gives a name to the Gospel rises but from the 
certainty that that desire shall be answered, and tiiat, sin being overcome, Christ shall appear a 
second time to pour forth then tlie fuhiess of unrestricted bounty. It is worthy of the most careful 
observation, that the sacrifice of Christ is one sacrifice, and but once offered. That which is 
perfectly sufficient in itself can need no addition ; but sufficiency is to be considered not only in 
respect to the sacrifice offered, but to the number of times in which it is to be offered. Under the 
Levitical law, every transgression required its sacrifice of atonement, and the repeated offences 
of the people were to be answered for by a corresponding number of victims. But it is the 
principle of evangelical atonement that the sacrifice which God Himself provided is both suffi- 
cient of itself and sufficient as once offered. The repetition of sacrifices under the law was 
necessary simply because they were signs, and the frequency of the use of a sign must depend 
upon the importance of the thing signified, and its separation from the ordinary objects of thouglit. 
But though tlie sign may thus, by its very natm-e, require to be repeated, the mystery once 
revealed can no more be revealed ;— the sacrifice efficacious in itself cannot be a second time 
demanded. Thus Christ " was once offered to bear the sins of many ;" and our interest in that 
sar-j iti-'. . ;iih1 the application of it to our salvation, are represented not by other sacrifices, or the 
saci;niiLnt;tl repetition of the sacrifice, biit by the sacramentar remembrance thereof, and a 
spiritual partaking of the body and blood of the Lamb, according to the most spiritual interpre- 
tation of the words, "Whoso catetli my flesh and drinketh my blood hatli eternal life;" and 
" Tliis do in remembrance of me." 

168 



WEDNESDAY BEFOBE EASTEE. 



The Gospel, St. Luke xxii. 1. 

OW the feast of unleavened bread 
drew nigh, which is called the Pass- 
]l over. And the chief priests and 
scribes sought how they might kill 
him ; £3r they feared the people, 
i Then entered Satan into Judas sur- 
named Iscaiiot, being of the number 
of the twelve. And he went his 
way, and communed mth the chief priests and captains, 
how he might betray him unto them. And they were 
glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he pro- 
mised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them 
in the absence of the multitude. Then came the day of 
unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. 
And he sent Peter and John, saying. Go and prepare us 
the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, 
Where mlt thou that we prepare? And he said unto 
them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there 
shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water ; follow 
him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall 
say unto the good-man of the house. The Master saith 
unto thee. Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat 
the passover with my disciples ? And he shaU shew you 
a large upper room furnished ; there make ready. And 
they went, and found as he had said unto them : and 
they made ready the passover. And when the hour was 
come he sat down, and the twelve Apostles with him. 
And he said unto them, AVith desire I have desired to eat 
this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto 
you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be falfilled 
in the Kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave 
thanks, and said. Take this, and divide it among your- 
selves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit 
of the vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come. 
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, 
169 ^ z 




WEDNESDAY BEFOKE EASTEE. 



and gave unto them, saving, This is my body, which is 
given for you : this do in remembrance of me. Like- 
wise also the cup after supper, saying. This cup is 
the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 
But behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is mth 
me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goeth as 
it was determined ; but wo unto that man by whom he 
is betrayed. And they began to enquire among them- 
selves, which of them it was that should do this thing. 
And there was also a strife among them, which of them 
should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto 
them. The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over 
them, and they that exercise authority upon them are 
called benefactors. But ye shall not be so : but he that 
is greatest among you, let him be as the younger ; and 
he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is 
greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth ? is not 
he that sitteth at meat ? but I am among you as he that 
serveth. Ye are they which have continued with me in 
my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as 
my Father hath appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and 
drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, 
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, 
that he may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for 
thee, that thy faith fail not ; and when thou art converted, 
strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I 
am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. 
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow 
this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou 
knowest me. And he said unto them, When I sent you 
mthout purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing ? 
And they said, Nothing. Then said he unto them, But 
now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his 
scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his gar- 
ment, and buy one. For I say unto you. That this that is 
written must yet be accomphshed in me, And he was 
170 



WEDNESDAY BEFOEE EASTER. 



reckoned among the transgressors : for the thmgs con- 
cermng me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, 
here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is 
enough. And he came out, and went, as he was wont, 
to the mount of Ohves, and his disciples also followed 
him. And when he w^as at the place, he said unto them. 
Pray, that ye enter not into temptation. And he was 
withdrami from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled 
doAvn and prayed, saying. Father, if thou be willing, 
remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will, but 
thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him 
from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, 
he prayed more earnestly ; and his sw^eat w^as as it were 
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And 
when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his dis- 
ciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said unto 
them. Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into 
temptation. And while he yet spake, behold, a mul- 
titude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, 
went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 
But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son 
of Man with a kiss ? When they who were about him 
saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall 
we smite with the sword ? And one of them smote the 
servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. 
And Jesus answered and said. Suffer ye thus far. And 
he touched his ear, and healed him. Then Jesus said 
unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and 
the elders who were come to him, Be ye come out as 
against a thief, with swords and staves? Wlien I was 
daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands 
against me: but this is your hour, and the power of 
darkness. Then took they him, and led him, and brought 
him into the high priest's house : and Peter followed afar 
off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of 
the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down 
among them. But a certain maid beheld him, as he sat 
171 



WEDNESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said. This 
man was also with him. And he denied him, saying. 
Woman, I know him not. And after a little- while 
another saw him, and said. Thou art also of them. And 
Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one 
hour after, another confidently affirmed, saying. Of a 
truth this fellow also was with him ; for he is a Galilean. 
And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou say est. And 
immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the 
Lord turned, and looked upon Peter ; and Peter remem- 
bered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, 
Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And 
Peter went out, and wept bitterly. And the men that 
held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they 
had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and 

The Gospel. — St. Luke here describes witli impressive particularity the events of a night, the 
monitory and atfectionate recollection of which ought to have a permanent hold upon our minds. 
It would be well indeed could we impress the image of this sad passage of time so strongly on the 
heart, that, in all its proud and sensual risings, it might have the memory of Christ's sorrows to 
soften and humble it. If our faith have any life in it, we have eaten the paschal feast with our 
Master, and the deep love and feelings of holy brotherhood have bound us to Him by ties never to be 
broken. The slumber which has come over us when we ought to have been watching, — the weak- 
ness and want of fidelity and resolution which have so often marked our conduct when we should 
have risked all for His cause, and rejoiced in being made partakei's of His sufferings, will furnish 
cause for hearty repentance and humiliation. We have forsaken Him and fled. Perhaps we have 
done still worse. Though our profession of faith has been a thousand times repeated, — though we 
have acknowledged Him by a belief to which is attached the liighest blessings and honours,— yet 
it may be, we have denied Him at the very moment when it would have been most honourable to us 
and to His cause to have proclaimed our knowledge of His divinity, and our full trust in His powder 
to overcome the world. St. Paul complains that, in his examination before the emperor, "No 
man stood with him, but all forsook him." This want of firmness or affection in those who had 
received lessons of wisdom from his lips, seems to have been a cause of greater sorrow to the 
Apostle than all his other afflictions. But Christ was forsaken and denied under circumstances 
far more distressing ; and the perfection of His nature rendered Him exquisitely sensible to every 
wound which the sting of unkindness or falsehood could inflict. Our want of earnestness in the 
defence of His Gospel,— our backwardness to proclaim the assurance which we have in the power 
of His spirit to save us, — should humble us into the personal application of whatever is affecting in 
the words, "They all forsook Him and fled," or "Peter went out, and wept bitterly." A momen- 
tary zeal may have led us to speak or act in support of the Gospel, and we have lived on the 
recollection of that show of fidelity, firmly believing that, as we could feel so ardently at the 
instant of provocation for the honour of our religion, we must ever be prepared to act in its defence. 
But here is the example of a whole band of Apostles, and of one especially, the most zealous in the 
company, to warn us against placing any trust in the sudden influences of zeal. The difference 
between mere natural ardour and the true inspiration of Christian faith is strikingly exemplified in 
tlie history of tliis niglit's occurrences, compared with the subsequent conduct of our Lord's early 
disciples. Danger and tlie prospect of suftering put each to tlie test. In the one instance, the 
most boastful confidence shrunk back terrified and astonislied at the first advance of danger; in 
tlie other, no proud expression of courage— no lofty assurance of personal sufficiency is heard, but 
the heart is found endowed with a resolution against wliich the gates of hell prevail not. He 

172 



WEDNESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



asked him, saving, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee ? 
And many other things bLasphemously spake they against 
liim. And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people, 
and the chief priests, and the scribes, came together, and 
led him into their council, saying. Art thou the Christ ? 
tell us. And he said unto them. If I teU you, ye will not 
beheve : and if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor 
let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the 
right hand of the power of God. Then said they all. Art 
thou then the Son of God ? And he said unto them. Ye 
say that I am. And they said. What need we any further 
T\dtness ? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth. 

was led as a lamb to the slaughter" is deeply treasured up in the memories of those who have 
sought to glorify Christ by following His example. The meekness of the Lamb has been their 
strength and theii- power ; the Spuit which converted them into the likeness of their Master gave 
them, at the same time, a portion of His unconquerable might. While we contemplate, then, fii-st 
one and then another circumstance in the history of this memorable night, our constant prayer 
should be, that Divine grace may fill us with the faith and well -rooted strength which descend 
from above, and will enable theii- possessor to stand unterrified not only in the judgment-hall with 
Christ before any earthly judge, but in the midst of a perishing imiverse, and before the tribunal 
of God. The answer of our Lord to the high-priest conveys incidentally an important lesson on 
the subject of faith. " Art thou the Christ ?" was the inquiiy ; but it proceeded from no wish to 
know the tnith, and Jesus replied, " If I tell you ye will not believe." He, however, answered the 
question, and distinctly declared Himself to be the Messiah, and the Son of God. The result of 
this confession of His divinity was such as He had foreshown it would be. It quickened the rage 
of those who were determined on His destiaiction ; and instead of inducing them to seek the truth, 
plunged them deeper in the darkness of tlieu- wilful error. We may learn from this, that to ask 
after truth is not the same as to be desirous of finding it ; and that the right answer will be in vain 
given us if there be no preparation of the mind and will for its reception. In religious inquuies, it 
is of the fii'st consequence that we fairly rid ourselves of proud and selfish prejudices. No degree 
of evidence can overcome them ; evidence having no relation to moral feeling, and being wholly 
unfitted, therefore, either to cure or to resist the adverse dispositions of the heart. The moral cui'e 
must precede the attempt to convince the mind by proofs or arguments ; otherwise the eye will see 
and not perceive, and the ear hear without understanding. It was the determined neglect of this 
principle which blmded the whole Jewish nation to the mighty demonstrations of our Lord's 
Messiahship. This it was which permitted the high-priest to abuse the privilege and sanctity of 
his office, hearing the truth and despising it ;— and this it is which so often impedes our own 
advancement m faith and knowledge when, with the Gospel open before us, we endeavour to fathom 
mysteries, but forget to ask for the grace which can alone prepare us to receive them. Let the 
contrary practice be pursued, and under whatever circumstances we ask of Christ " Art thou the 
Son of God ?" an answer will be given us, and we shall rejoice in the knowledge of the truth. 
Unsanctified hearts can know nothing of heavenly things ; words cannot convey to them the mind 
of a spirit which they resist ; and the more direct the answer, the more unwilling will they be to 
receive it with patience and thankfulness. Christ had answered the question put by the high- 
priest in so many ways, that disbelievers were without excuse. The "power present to save" was 
visible ; the Spirit ready to sanctify and instruct had manifested itself in the tjqoical miracles which 
sent forth the leper cleansed and the blind seeing ; and now the Divine Being who wrought 
these wonders gave an answer to the question, simple and direct, but with the solemnity of an 
oath, crowning thereby the evidence which went before with the best, the sublimest of all 
arguments,— the word of One in whose mouth there was found no guile. 

173 



Thursday before Easter, 





The Epistle. 1 Cor, xi. 17. 

N this that I declare unto you, I 
praise you not; that ye come toge- 
ther not for the better, but for the 
worse. For first of all, when ve 
come together in the church, I hear 
that there be divisions among you, 
and I partly believe it. For there 



THUKSDAY BEFORE EASTER. 



must be also heresies among you, that they who are 
approved may be made manifest among you. When ye 
come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat 
the Lord's supper : for in eating every one taketh before 
other his own supper ; and one is hungry, and another is 
drunken. What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink 
in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them 
that have not ? What shall I say to you ? shall I praise 
you in this ? I praise you not. For I have received of 
the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. That the 
Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, 
took bread ; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, 
and said, Take, eat ; this is my body, which is broken for 
you : this do in remembrance of me. After the same 
manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying. 
This cup is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as 
oft as ye chink it, in remembrance of me. For as often 
as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the 
Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall 
eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, 
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But 

The Epistle. —This day was anciently called Dies Mandati, the Day of the Mandate, corrupted 
by us into the word Maundy. The command alluded to is that which our Lord gave concerning 
the Eucharist, "This do in remembrance of me ;" or the moi-e general injunction respecting 
obedience to His great example of humility, when He washed the feet of His disciples. It was on 
this day that catechumens, or candidates for baptism, rehearsed the creed publicly before the 
assembled clergy and people ; and many persons, anxious in all things to obey the primitive rule, 
received the communion in the evening as well as in the morning, as a closer commemoration of 
the "last supper of their Lord. No door of the sanctuary was left shut on this day, and the peni- 
tents who had fulfilled the directions of their ministers, and performed the penances imposed, were 
now readmitted to the church. Of this we are informed by St. Ambrose, who says, that sinners 
received on this day some remission of penance, or obtained full absolution, in remembrance of 
Christ's giving Himself up for our redemption. The mode of readmission varied according to the 
natm-e of the ofiences committed, and other modifying circumstances. In the more important 
cases the penitents presented themselves at the doors of the church, where, as they lay extended 
on the earth, they were accosted by the bishop, who thrice addressed them in the words of the 
inspired preacher, " Come, ye children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord." 
He then led them, clothed in sackcloth, to the altar, and having pronounced the absolution, 
admitted them to communion. It was to this course of humiliation that the early believers readily 
and even joyfully submitted themselves, when their errors had brought upon them the just dis- 
pleasure of the Church. They knew no peace while denied participation in the mysteries of 
Divine grace. That ordinance of which we have so complete an account in the Epistle was to them 
the means of holiness, salvation, and life. They were willing to sutTer any thing that they might 
be restored to peace and to the altar of Christ, Alas ! how much has to be said to the Christians of 
this age to persuade them to come and partake of the bread of life, however freely and openly otfered! 

175 



THURSDAY BEFOEE EASTER. 



let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that 
bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and 
diinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to 
himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause 
many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be 
judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of 
the Lord, that w^e should not be condemned with the 
world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together 
to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, 
let him eat at home ; that ye come not together unto 
condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I 
come. 



The Gospel. St. Luke xxiii. 1 




HE whole multitude of them arose, 
and led him unto Pilate. And they 
began to accuse him, saying. We 
found this fellow perverting the na- 
tion, and forbidding to give tribute 
to Csesar, saying. That he himself is 
Christ a King. And Pilate asked 
him, saying. Art thou the King of 
the Jews ? And he answ^ered him, and said. Thou sayest 
it. Then said Pilate to the chief priests, and to the 
people, I find no fault in this man. And they were the 
more fierce, saying. He stirreth up the people, teaching 
throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this 
place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether 
the man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that 
he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to 
Herod, who himself was also at Jerusalem at that time. 
And when Herod saw Jesus he was exceeding glad ; for 
he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he 
had heard many things of him, and he hoped to have 
seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned 
176 



THUESDAY BEFOEE EASTEE. 



\Yith him in many words ; but he answered him nothing. 
And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently 
accused him. And Herod with his men of war set him 
at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gor- 
geous robe, and sent him again to Pilate, And the same 
day Pilate and Herod were made friends together ; for 
before they were at enmity between themselves. And 
Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, and 
the rulers, and the people, said unto them, Ye have 
brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the 
people : and behold, I, having examined him before you, 
have found no fault in this man touching those things 
whereof ye accuse him : No, nor yet Herod : for I sent 
you to him : and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto 
him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him. For 
of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast. 
And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this 
man, and release unto ns Barabbas: (who for a certain 
sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into 
prison.) Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake 
again to them. But they cried, saying. Crucify him, 
crucify him. And he said unto them the third time. 
Why, what evil hath he done ? I have found no cause of 
death in him : I will therefore chastise him, and let him 
go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring 
that he might be crucified : and the voices of them and 
of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence 
that it should be as they required. And he released unto 
them him that for sedition and mm'der was cast into 
prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus 
to their will. And as they led him away, they laid hold 
upon one Simon a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, 
and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it 
after Jesus. And there followed him a great company of 
people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented 
him. But Jesus, turning unto them, said, Daughters of 
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and 
177 ^ .2a 



THUESDAY BEFORE EASTER. 



for your children. For behold, the days are commg, m 
the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the 
wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave 
suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains. 
Fall on us ; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do 
these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the 
dry? And there were also two other, malefactors, led 
with him to be put to death. And when they were come 
to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified 
him ; and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the 
other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they do. And they parted his 
raiment, and cast lots. And the people stood beholding ; 
and the rulers also with them derided him, saying. He 
saved others ; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the 
chosen of God, And the soldiers also mocked him, 
coming to him, and offering him vinegar, and saying. If 
thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself And a super- 
scription also was written over him in letters of Greek, 
and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF 
THE JEWS. And one of the malefactors, which were 
hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save 
thyself, and us. But the other answering rebuked him, 
saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the 
same condemnation ? And we indeed justly ; for we re- 
ceive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath 
done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, 
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And 
Jesus said unto him. Verily I say unto thee. To-day shalt 
thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth 
hour : and there was a darkness over all the earth until 
the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the vail 
of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus 
had cried Vvith a loud voice, he said. Father, into thy 
hands I commend my spirit : and having said thus, he 
gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what 
Avas done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a 
178 ^ 



THUESDAY BEFOKE EASTER. 



righteous man. And all the people that came together 
to that sight, beholding the things that were done, smote 
then breasts, and returned. And all his acquaintance, and 
the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, 
beholding these things. 

The Gospel. — St. Luke describes with great minuteness the circumstances of our Lord's ap- 
pearance before the Eoman governor. We learn from him the true cause of Pilate's weakness, 
and become thereby more than ever impressed with the melancholy feeling of the world's injus- 
tice, and of the fearful extent of depravity to which the malice of our Saviour's enemies had led 
them. "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Csesar." 
That there was no proper foundation for such a charge, must have been evident to all who had 
any knowledge of Christ's character or actions. Pilate no doubt took sufficient care to consider 
the circumstances of so grave an accusation ; and must have understood both from our Saviours 
answer and the observations of the Jews respecting Him, that He claimed an authority and rever- 
ence which had no relation to the allegiance due to C^sar. Had he not been convinced of this, 
his answer to the Jews would have been altogether different to what it was ; he dare not have 
said, after Jesus had consented to be called King of the Jews, " I find no fault in this man.'' 
The sending of our Lord to Herod is a new feature in the trial. He was thereby made a a spec- 
tacle of and a mockery to a class of men best prepared to insult Him for His virtues and His 
wisdom. The courtiers of a petty prince, rejoicing in their licentiousness, and caring little about 
law or religion, would hate Him from different motives to those which inspired the priests and 
Pharisees, but with no less rancour and obstinacy. Herod had formed a party to which it is sup- 
posed he gave a name by the care with which he fostered it for the purposes of his pride and 
vanity. The Herodians possess a certain distinction in Scriptui-e, which is their utter want, as it 
would appear, of any religious sentiment. We know the incredulous Sadducee by his subtle and 
anxious questionings : and the self-righteous Pharisee by his strivings for the law, and his labo- 
rious efforts to add line after line to his creditor-account with God : but we hear nothing of the 
Herodians, except the ^name, and their occasional intercourse with the most sophistical of the 
other sects. By the complacency of Pilate to the head of this party, our Lord was exposed to 
tbe scoffs of men who may be considered as the representatives of the gay, the worldly, and the 
courtly, in all ages and countries. Aided by modern instances, how easy for us is it to conceive 
the scene in which Herod and his men of war set the meek and forsaken Jesus at nought ! The 
gorgeous robe was intended to be a bitter satire on His pretensions to honour ; — pretensions 
which were ridiculed and despised, and yet so little understood, that Herod was glad to send 
Him back to Pilate, and escape the responsibility of His pimishment. The Eoman governor 
was now more convinced than ever that Jesus had done nothing which could deserve death. 
With the jealousy of a magistrate, he allowed himself to believe that, by His preaching to the 
people, He might have some sinister intention of a political nature. He was, therefore, willing 
to inflict some slight chastisement before setting Him free, and then allow the people to satisfy their 
tliirst for blood by witnessing the execution of one whose crimes were known throughout JudsBa. 
But Pilate knew not the nature of the malice which infected their hearts. It was more than 
blood that they required. The sacrifice of truth, — purity, — holiness, could alone satisfy the spirit 
of evil, now at its moment of highest triumph, and from which it was for ever after to be on the 
descent. This was the feeling which prompted the infuriated cry, so pointedly recorded by all 
the Evangelists, " Crucify Him ! Crucify Him !" The violence of the hate thus generated drove 
all before it ; and the weak barriers opposed to its surges by the conscience of Pilate, or any 
slight remains of justice which might exist among some of the people, were in an instant hurled 
down, and only contributed to increase the triumph of the power of evil. 



179 



Good Friday. 




The Collects. 

LMIGHTY God, we beseech thee 
graciously to behold this thy family, 
for which our Lord J esus Christ was 
contented to be betrayed, and given 
up into the hands of wicked men, 
and to suffer death upon the cross, 
who now liveth and reigneth with 
thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one 
God, world without end. Amen. 
180 




GOOD FKIDAY. 



LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
by whose Sphit the whole body of 
the Church is governed and sancti- 
fied ; Receive our supplications and 
prayers, which we offer before thee 
for all estates of men in thy holy 
Church, that every member of the 
same, in his vocation and ministry, 
may truly and godly serve thee ; through our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Merciful God, who hast made all 
men, and hatest nothing that thou 
hast made, nor wouldest the death 
of a sinner, but rather that he should 
be converted and live ; Have mercy 
upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and 
Hereticks, and take fi^om them all 
ignorance, hardness of heart, and 
contempt ot thy Word : and so fetch them home, blessed 
Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among the 
remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under 
one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world 
without end. Amen. 

The Collects.—" Good " is the epithet applied to this day of solemn recollection, and no term 
could have been better chosen to describe the commemoration of tlie Saviour's victorious suffer- 
ings. The brightest day that ever shone upon Eden beamed not so resplendently with divine 
love as this. Beneath the clouds of sin, the signs of God's wrath alone present themselves to 
view, and we weep and tremble, as it becomes us, at the awful spectacle ; but in the regions 
above, the blessed angels behold the lustre of God^s mercy preparing to fill the whole circle of 
existence with ineffable delight. Good is the love which thus provides the means of grace- 
good is the dispensation through which it is conveyed ;— good is the thankfulness which hearts 
converted thereby pour forth ;— and good the day in which the people of Christ assemble round 
His altars as captives loosed from their bonds, to praise their Deliverer, and receive the bread of 
hfe from His hands ! The first of the three Collects teaches us to pray, as the family of God, 
for His grace and protection ; the second instructs us to address Him in behalf of our brethren 
and fellow- worshippers— the whole body of the Church, and all the members thereof; and the 
third, supposing us impressed with the sentiments of true Christian love, carries us to the mercy- 
seat with a supplication for those who are yet lying in the shadow of death, that they may be 
made partakers of the salvation efiected for us as on this day. 

181 






GOOD FEIDAY. 



The Epistle, Hebr. x. 1. 

HE law having a shadow of good 
things to come, and not the very 
image of the things, can never with 
those sacrifices, which they offered 
year by year continually, make the 
comers thereunto perfect: for then 
would they not have ceased to be 
offered ? because that the worship- 
pers once purged should have had no more conscience of 
sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance 
again made of sins every year. For it is not possible 
that the blood of buhs and of goats should take away 
sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he 
saith. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a 
body hast thou prepared me: In burnt-offerings and 
sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure : Then said I, 
Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of 
me) to do thy will, God. Above, when he said. Sacri- 
fice and offering, and burnt-offerings, and oflfering for 
sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein, 
which are offered by the Law : then said he, Lo, I come 
to do thy will, God. He taketh away the first, that 
he may establish the second. By the which will we are 
sanctified, through the oflfering of the body of Jesus 
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily 
ministering, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, 
which can never take away sins. But this man, after he 
had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on 
the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till 
his enemies be made his foot-stool. For by one offering 
he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified: 
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us : for 
after that he had said before. This is the covenant that 
T will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, 
I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds 
182 




GOOD FEIDAY. 



will I write tliem ; and their sins and iniquities will I 
remember no more. Now where remission of these is, 
there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, 
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood 
of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath con- 
secrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh ; 
and having an High Priest over the house of God ; let 
us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, 
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and 
our bodies washed ivith pure water. Let us hold fast the 
profession of our faith without wavering ; (for he is faithful 
that promised ;) and let us consider one another to pro- 
voke unto love, and to good works ; not forsaking the as- 
sembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; 
but exhorting one another : and so much the more, as ye 
see the day approaching. 

The Epistle. — The church has ia all ages commemorated the day of Christ's sufferings with 
peculiar and grateful solemnity. It was early regarded as a proof of singular impiety to neglect 
it, or to pass over on this day the performance of any act of self-denial which, according to the 
injunctions of the church, might express sorrow and humiliation. The strict fasting from which 
some might shrink in the earlier periods of Lent, justifying themselves either by doubts as to the 
ancient custom, or by excuses derived from their own circumstances, was on this day to be ob- 
served without exception, and according to the severest rule. Till the evening absolution had 
been pronounced, no one was free to eat who expected to be admitted to take part in the blessed 
and joyful ceremonies of Easter. The Epistle, which shows the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice to 
effect all which the sacrifices of the law only dimly shadowed forth, connects the consideration of 
the day also as the true Day of Atonement witli that of its typical representative in the old dispen- 
sation. According to the Levitical law, it was expressly ordered, that the tenth day of the seventh 
month should be observed as a Day of Atonement. " Ye shall do no work in that same day ; for 
it is a day of atonement to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever 
soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people." 
— Levit. xxiii. 27 — 30. The Holy of Holies, or innermost recess of the sanctuary, wliere the ark 
and the mercy-seat were placed, was on this day open to the high-priest. He alone might enter 
the mysterious presence-chamber of the God of Israel ; and even he, sacred as he was, could not 
enter till he had undergone special purification, and performed the sacrifice of atonement. With 
the blood of the offered victim (first a bull, and then a goat), and with burning incense, he ap- 
proached the altar, and there, unattended and unseen, sought pardon for his people. Even this 
shadow of an atonement and sanctification was precious in the eyes of those who deeply deplored 
their sins and alienation from God. With what far greater awe — with wliat a much deeper 
sense of gratitude — ought we to observe this great Day of Atonement, prescribed not by a law- 
giver but by a Saviour ; — and instituted not to teach us to look forward to redemption, but to 
remind us that we are redeemed ; — that the sacrifice which was to save us has been offered up, 
and the brightest courts of heaven made ready to receive us. The body which Christ assumed is 
compared by St. Paul to the veil which separated the Holy of Holies from the other parts of the 
Temple. That veil was rent when Christ was crucified, and the sanctuary was thereby opened 
to the world. Christ's body, — the living and the consecrated way— broken on the Cross, brings 
us at once to the glory which must for ever have remained veiled had He not by His willingly- 
endured aflictions so made it approachable. 

183 



GOOD FEIDAY. 



The Gospel. St. Jolni xix. 1. 

ILATE therefore took Jesus, and 
sconro:ecl him. And the soldiers 
phitted a crown of thorns, and put 
it on his head, and they put on him 
a purple robe, and said, Hail, King 
of the Jews : and they smote him 
with their hands. Pilate therefore 
went forth ac>:ain, and saith unto 
them, Behold, T bring him forth to you. that ye may know 
that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, 
wearing the cro^ra of thorns, and the purple robe. And 
Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! ^Mien the 
chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried 
out, sapng\ Crucify him. crucify him. Pilate saith unto 
them, Take ye him, and crucify him : for 1 find no fauk 
in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and 
by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the 
Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that sa}nng, 
he was the more afraid : and went again into the judge- 
ment-hall and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou ? But 
Jesus gave him no answer. Tlien saith Pilate unto him, 
Speakest thou not unto me ? knowest thou not that I 
have power to cracify thee, and have power to release 
thee ? Jesus answered. Thou couldest have no power at 
all against me, except it were given thee from above : 
therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater 
sm. And fi'om henceforth PiLate soualit to release him : 
but the Jews cried out, sa^nno;, If thou let this man d;o, 
thou art not C^sar s friend : whosoever maketh himself 
a king, speaketh against Caesar. When Pikate therefore 
heard that sapng, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down 
in the judgement-seat, in a place that is caUed the Pave- 
ment, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the 
preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour : 
and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King I But 
184 




GOOD FEIDAY. 



they cried out, Away with him, away mth him, crucify him. 
Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King ? The 
chief priests answered, We have no king but C^sar. Then 
dehvered he him therefore unto them to be crucified : and 
they took Jesus, and led him away. And he, bearing his 
cross, went forth mto a place called the place of a scull, 
which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha: where they 
crucified him, and two other ^vith him, on either side one, 
and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and 
put it on the cross; and the writing was, JESUS OF 
NAZAKETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This 
title then read many of the Jews: for the place where 
Jesus was crucified Avas nigh to the city : and it was 
written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said 
the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not. The 
King of the Jews ; but that he said, I am the King of the 
Jews. Pilate answered. What I have written, I have 
written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified 
Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every 
soldier a part ; and also his coat : now the coat was 
without seam, woven from the top throughout. They 
said therefore among themselves. Let us not rend it, but 
cast lots for it, whose it shall be : that the Scripture 
might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment 
among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. 
These things therefore the soldiers did. Now there stood 
by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, 
Maiy the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When 
Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing 
by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, 
behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple. Behold 
thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her 
unto his own home. After this, Jesus knowing that all 
things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might 
be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel 
full of Amiegar : and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and 
put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus 
185 ^ 2 B 



GOOD FEIDAY. 



therefore bad received the yinegar, he said, It is finished : 
and he bowed his head, and gave np the ghost. The Jews 
therefore, because it was the preparation, thiat the bodies 
should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day, (for 
that sabbath-day Ayas an high day,) besought Pilate that 
their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken 
away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the 
first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But 
when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead al- 

The Gospel, — ^Another witness to the suiferings of Christ is now to be heard ; and one whose 
tenderness and affection well prepare him for the office of speaking to his brethren on the last 
agony of theii' Lord. We now contemplate the mj'sterions event as believers. The examination 
of the history h.as been carefully made ; we have weighed well the unanswerable evidence of 
mii-acles and prophecies ; the sublime beauty of Christ's wisdom, as well as the greatness of his 
power, has penetrated our hearts ; and the blessed exercises of prayer, fasting, and silent medi- 
tation, have rendered them susceptible to tlie deeper influences of grace and love. It is in this 
state of mind we hope to engage in the commemoration of Christ's death ; and we follow, in spirit 
and with the best beloved of the Apostles, our Master to the Cross. "Away with Him ! away 
with Him! Crucify Him sounds in our ears as we leave the hall of Pilate. The heavy cross- 
beam of the tree is laid upon his shoulders ; and he bows beneath it, worn with sorrow, and the 
solemn terrors of the approaching vengeance of His Father against the sin for which He is to 
suffer. Angry crowds of j^riests and Pharisees surroimd Him, — some hurling at Him their bitter 
scoffs, and others muttering their still fiercer cui'ses. Ai"e we ashamed now of our Master ? Do 
we shrink back at the sight of the Cross? — do those multiplied moekings and revilings distm-b 
tlie confidence which we have had in the majesty of His innocency and holiness ? No ! The sight 
of His sorrows but makes the flame of our love burn brighter. Though we ti-emble, we still follow 
in the path which He is treading ; and the wild shouts of the benighted multitude are responded 
to in our hearts by sad confessions of sin for our fallen race ; — by tearful supplications that our 
o^vn hearts may be more and more strengthened ; — and that the awful hour of suftering may 
cleanse, as it passes away, the paths of future generations. And Calvary" is before us ! " The 
city winch is set on a mountain cannot be liid ;" and Christ carries to the top of the mountain 
the first foundation-stone of the new Jerusalem, — there to lay it, and to cement it with His blood, 
and inscribe it with His own name. Nothing was wanting to make the sufferings of the Ee- 
deemer complete. Falsehood and injustice had pursued Him to the summit of the rock. There, 
amid the crowd anxious to witness His agony, He bowed Himself to the executioner ; — lay out- 
stretched upon the Cross, and patiently bore the honible tortm-e of the nailing of the hands and 
feet. Xor v>-as it mere pain that Jesus had to endme. Tlie ignominy of the Cross had all the 
terror in it which ca'n arise from signs of the lowest debasement. Even a malefactor of the worst 
kind was not nailed to the acciused tree, if above the rank of a slave ; so that the Apostle, when 
speaking of the humiliation and death of Christ, might well say, " even the death of the Cross ;" 
for there was none so painful, — none so degrading. Among the witnesses of His deep abasement 
and agony were Plis mother, and His beloved disciple, John, the writer of this sad narrative. 
Suffering, thougli consoled by sympathy, yet pierces the heart more keenly wlien it is seen with 
the same sharp point to wound those we love ; and Jesus was surrounded in His last hour by all 
the circumstances which make up the body of the expression, " Behold the man !" His gentle 
nature had to endure the awakening of affection, that He might sufter the pain which belongs to 
it when wounded ; and that in the moment of saddest tribulation He might set an example of 
filial thoughtfulue.ss and duty. But while these circumstances are occupying our thoughts, and 
we lr;ok at Jesus still laboming, though on the Cross, in the work of love, the darlcness increases 
around Hirn, His frame shudders as every nerve receives all that it can convey of agony. His 
mind and spirit become aware of the concentrated wrath of God against the sin for which He 
sufiers. Xo ministering angel dare now descend from heaven ; the very light of the natural 
universe is withdrawn. On no spot of existence can His eye rest and find a sign of mercv or for- 

186 



GOOD FEIDAY. 



ready, they brake not his legs. But one of the soldiers 
with a spear pierced liis side, and forthwith came thereout 
blood and water. And he that saw it bear record, and 
his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, 
that ye might believe. For these things were done that 
the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not 
be broken. And again, another Scripture saith. They shall 
look on him Avhom they pierced. 

bearance. The world and its Redeemer are consigned to the powers of darkness and death. But 
in this awful moment the sacrifice is completed. Divine justice is appeased ; and man, bound to 
the altar with Christ, is set free ! Such was the origin of the liberty we enjoy ; but only a part of 
the design is as yet visible. The plan of Christianity was unfolded with the most perfect adapta- 
tion to the nature of things, and the pecnliar condition of those for whose salvation it w^as estab- 
lished. In false religions the most striking parts of the system have always been presented first. 
Impostors naturally begin by magnifying the advantages they have to confer; heap promise upon 
promise, — and colour the whole with the most gorgeous tints that imagination can supply. En- 
thusiasts, in a similar manner, loudly proclaim the grandeur of their discoveries. The fire of 
their souls burns with a meteoric vividness that dazzles most when it first meets the eye ; and it is 
then that they secure followers by the strong and almost irresistible force of sympathy. Now 
how opposite to all this was the conduct of Christ, and the progressive development of His dis- 
pensation ! It was only by the slowest steps that He unfolded the intentions of the Gospel. At 
first a poor and simple infant, He lay cradled in a manger : then the companion of his parents' 
flight into a foreign land; and on their return, the inhabitant of the poorest toAvn in all Palestine, 
He remained the poorest among the poor of His people. His manifestation unto Israel was ac- 
companied with no pomp or pretence, but with acts of humility, and toilsome endurance and 
patience. The miracles which He wrought had all the essence of power ; but not its usual ac- 
companiments of grandeur. They were performed with a gentle and silent sphit, and might 
have escaped observation as the mere work of charity, could charity ever exercise its will with 
such an instantaneous command of means. Tlie personal condition of Christ was so far from im- 
proving as He proceeded in His labours, and continued to gather around Him new members of 
His church, that it daily became worse. " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have 
nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." Toil and danger were His constant 
companions ; and the close of His career was like the setting of a mild benignant star amid 
fierce tempest clouds ; or the seeming shrinking of the glorious sun, midway in its course, within 
the thick folds of melancholy eclipse. But during all this time Christ was approaching His great 
reward, and the cup of agony, put into His hand by divine justice, filled to overflowing, and drunk 
off, even to the dregs. He had nothing before Him, either for Himself or His people, but the 
eternity of holiness and glory. We, now contemplating the Cross, know tliat such was the result 
of Christ's humiliation ; and the Cross is borne with because it is become an emblem of triumph 
rather than of shame. But it would be well for us to think more of it as it stood upon Calvary, 
bathed in the blood of the sacrifice. We usually content ourselves with taking a hasty glance 
at the spectacle which it there afforded to mankind ; and then press forward, eager only to 
cherish hope by the contemplation of the happiness wliich the Gospel, victorious, now holds out 
to us. By this rapid passage from the solemn preparations of humiliation and suftering, through 
which Christ Hunself passed with so slow and sedate a step, om- minds fail of acquiring a just 
idea of His religion ; our hearts are wanting in seriousness ; and hope and resolution are alike 
deficient in steadfastness and energy. 



187 



Easter Even. 




The Collect. 

RANT, Lord, that as we are bap- 
tized into the death of thy blessed 
Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, so 
by continual mortifying our corrupt 
affections we may be buried with 
him ; and that through the grave, 
- ; and gate of death, we may pass to our joyful resur- 
/ rection : for his merits, who died, and was buried, 
and rose again for us, thy Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

The Collect. — This was tbe Jewish Sabbath, and it was a higli day, for it had all tlie sanctity 
6f the Passover added to the holiness of the ordinary Sabbath. To the Jews it brought festivity 
and rejoicing ; but how sad a day was it to the followers of Christ ! How many thoughts and 
questionings must have arisen in theii- minds, as they joined in the services of the Temple ; or 
listened to the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogues ! The memory of then- 
affliction, and of the mysterious events about which it was concerned, has been kept up in the 
chiux-h from the earliest times, by prayer and fasting. It was' enjoined that all who were not 
prevented by infirmity, should continue their abstinence from the preceding day till the morning 
of the resurrection dawned upon them. The midnight hours were employed in reading the Scrip- 
tm-es and in prayer ; and in the Eastern Church lights were everywhere kept burning as em- 
blematical of the lor;ked-for glory of the risen Saviour. On the evening of this day also numerous 
Catechumens were arlmitted to Ixiptism ; and all awaited the dawn with the eager joy of those 
who felt that a triumph was about to be celebrated, in which they had an immediate interest. 

188 



EASTEK EVEN. 



The Epistle. 1 St. Pet. iii. 17. 




T is better, if the wiU of God be so, 
that ye suffer for well-doing, than 
for evil-doing. For Christ also hath 
once suffered for sins, the just for 
the unjust, that he might bring us 
J to God, being put to death in the 
J flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. 
By which also he went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were dis- 
obedient, when once the long- suffering of God waited 
in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing ; 
wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. 
The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now 
save us, (not the putting away the fihh of the flesh, but 
the answer of a good conscience towards God,) by the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ: who is gone into heaven, 
and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities 
and powers being made subject unto him. 



The Gospel. St. Matth. xxvii. 57. 

HEN the even was come, there came 
a rich man of Arimathaea, named 
Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' 
disciple. He went to Pilate and 
begged the body of Jesus. Then 
Pilate commanded the body to be 
delivered. And when Joseph had 
taken the body, he wrapped it in a 
clean hnen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which 
he had hewn out in the rock ; and he rolled a great stone 

The Epistle. — In conquering death, our Lord conquered the grave also ; but as He was to be 
first overcome by the one, so was He lOiewise to be held for a certain time under the power of the 
other. Both these species of subjugation were necessary to fulfil the intentions of His sacrifice. 
Had He not really died, He would not have been an atonement ; and death is simply a separation 
of the two constituent portions of our being. To make it manifest that this separation had taken 
189 ' . 




EASTEE EVEN. 



to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there 
Avas Mary Magxlalene, and the other Mary, sitting over 
against the sepulchre. Now the next day that followed 
the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees 
came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that 
that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three 
days I will rise again. Command therefore that the 
sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his dis- 
ciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto 
the people. He is risen from the dead : so the last error 
shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them. Ye 
have a watch ; go your way, make it as sure as you can. 
So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the 
stone, and setting a watch. 

place, the body of Jesus was left to tlie grave, there to lie in its utter helplessness and destitution 
of sense, with no more of life in it than the rocks by which it Avas surrounded ; and manifesting to 
those who beheld it, the same capabilities of corruption as the others which had just been taken 
from the companion crosses on Calvary. The word of the Apostle assures us that the soul of the 
blessed Sufferer descended, in the mean time, to the general home of departed spirits, to Hades, 
that is, the invisible world. But neither was His body to see corruption, nor His soul to be left 
in this its separate state of existence. The eternal Spirit, whereby all the wonders of His own and 
His Father's mercy were wrought in old times, was to descend ni^on His sacrificed humanity, 
and requicken it ; and it was for this His requickening — His return from the spirits in prison 
till the judgement day— or from Hades, where all must be till that solemn restitution to substan- 
tial hfe, — that his disciples waited with more of fear than hope on the eve of the first Easter. 

The Gospel. — The circumstances recorded in this Gospel are highly important as proofs of the 
actual death of Christ, and of the care employed by his enemies to prevent the possibility of fraud. 
They who attended to his execution pronounced him dead : the few who ventured to his cross in 
the spirit of love and reverence, knew tliat his soul had departed ; and in the account of their 
preparations for his burial, according to the custom of the age a7id country, we have a valuable, 
because undesigned, evidence to the truth of the narrative. The disciples acted as was natural to 
their state of mind ; but a writer of " cunningly-devised fables " would not have sent them to 
prepare spices and anointings for a body which, at the next step that their faith took, they knew 
" could not see corruption." Like every other part of our Saviour's history, moreover, this account 
of His burial presents, to our contemplation the wonderful fulfilment of prophecy. "He made His 
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;" or more clearly, according to Bishop 
Lowth's translation, " His grave was appointed with the wicked ; but with the rich man was his 
tomb." Is. liii. 9. Dying with malefactors, and as a malefactor, how little was it to be expected 
that His dead body would be treated differently to that of any other supposed criminal who had 
suffered the punishment due to his alleged guilt. But while, by tlie strange circumstance of His 
being sentenced at a Koman tribunal. He died the death of the Cross, not an ordinary punish- 
ment among the Jews, and so fulfilled one class of prophecies ; and by His being taken from the 
Cross without a bone being broken, completed another ; so now also in this His entombing, He 
made it manifest that there was, as it were, a bit and bridle in the mouth of circumstance, by 
which the Almighty Father made everything give evidence to the truth of His Gospel. 



190 



EASTER-DAY. 




^ At morning Prayer, instead of the Psalm, come let us sing, &c,, tliese Antlieras 

shall he sung or said, 

HEIST our passover is sacrificed 
for us : therefore let us keep the 
feast ; 

Not with the old leaven, nor mth 
the leaven of malice and wickedness, 
but Avith the unleavened bread of 
sincerity and truth, 1 Cor, v. 7. 

HEIST being raised from the dead 
dieth no more : death hath no more 
dominion over him. 

For in that he died, he died unto 
sin once : but in that he liveth, he 
livetli unto God. 

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves 
to be dead indeed unto sin : but alive 
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. vi. 9. 

HEIST is risen from the dead : and 
become the first-fruits of them that 
slept. 

For since by man came death : by 
man came also the resurrection of 
the dead. 

For as in Adam all die : even so 
in Christ shall all be made alive. 
1 Cor. XV. 20. 
Glory be to the Father, &c. 
As it was in the beginning, &c. 

Sentences and Collect. — The Clmrch, like the afflicted Apostles and other followers of Christ, 
maybe supposed to have passed the preceding houi's in the examination of the prophecies concern- 
ing His sufferings and triumphs. "With the first dawn of day, these our predecessors in the ways 
of salvation, who stand in the same relation to us as they who were earliest at the tomb did to the 
rest of the disciples, bring us by their Gospels or Epistles the glad tidings that the Kedeemer has 

191 




EASTEE-DAY. 




The Collect. 

LMIGHTY God, who through thme 
only-begottoii Son Jesus Christ hast 
overcome death, and opened unto 
us the gate of everlastmg hfe ; We 
humblv beseech thee, that, as by thy 
special grace preyentrng us thou 
dost put into our minds good deshes, so by thy con- 
tinual help we may bring the same to good effect ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who hveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, 
world without end. Awen. 



indeed triumphed over deatli and tlie grave. The dawn of this day, therefore, is that of our com- 
pleted salvation ; for while Christ died for our sins, so did He also " rise again for om* justifica- 
tion." Intelligence of such a nature must ever have a newness and freshness about it ; the very 
grandeur of the tidings, and its immediate reference to the freedom and exaltation of the whole 
human race, teaching every heart to glow with a sense of libert}- that can never gi'ow old. Well, 
then, has our Church appointed the service of tliis day to commence witli the mcst joyful an- 
nouncements of the Eesurrection that are to be found in Scripture. Woven together, they form a 
noble anthem, every line of which is redolent of thankfulness and consolation. 

Full of gratitude for our perfected redemption, we acknowledge the value of preventing grace, 
or those lielps of our heavenly Father which precede every wish or effort of our own to seek 
holiness and salvation. And thus convinced of God's mercy in what has akeady been done, the 
grand object with us now is, to obtain from the same Divine ."^ource the all-powerful gi-ace which 
may secure our entrance into glorA'. 

192 ' 



EASTEE-DAY. 



The Epistle. Col. iii. 1 . 

F ye tlien be risen with Christ, seek 
those things which are above, w^here 
Christ sitteth on the right hand of 
God. Set your affection on things 
above, not on things on the earth: 
for ye are dead, and your hfe is hid 
with Christ in God. When Christ, 
who is our hfe, shall appear, then 
shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify there- 
fore your members which are upon the earth ; fornication, 
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and 
covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake 
the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. 
In the w^hich ye also walked some time, when ye lived in 
them. 

The Gospel. St. John xx. 1. 

HE first clay of the week cometh 
Mary Magdalene early, when it was 
yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and 
seeth the stone taken away from the 
sepulchre. Then she runneth and 
cometh to Simon Peter, and to the 
other disciple whom Jesus loved, and 
saith unto them. They have taken 
away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not 
where they have laid him. Peter therefore wxnt forth. 

The Epistle.— In ancient times, this Sabbath was called Dominica Gaudii, or, the Lord's Day 
of Joy ; and slavery, poverty, and affliction of every kind, were brought from the retreats of misery, 
that the world might have a visible exemplification of the power of Christ and His Gospel to work 
our deliverance. The Epistle addresses us as having experienced in our souls the mighty working 
of that Spirit whereby He himself arose from the dead. On this our spiritual participation in His 
triumph over sin and death, it establishes an argument for holiness so direct and yet so profound, 
that we may ask with wonder, how is it that any one can hope for salvation through the sufterings 
of Christ, and yet remain contentedly subject to the influence of sin ? The power of the resurrec- 
tion is even now working in those who are finally to be delivered. Already Christ sees of the 
travail of His soul, and is assured by the conversion of sinners that He did not suffer in vain ; but 
were His people still left under bondage to sin, had they not escaped, through the applications of 

193 . 2c 





EASTEK-DAY. 



and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So 
they ran both together ; and the other disciple did outrun 
Pettjr, and came first to the sepulchre ; and he, stooping 
down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet 
^vent he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following 
him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen 
clothes he ; and the napkin that was about his head, not 
lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a 
place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple 
which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and be- 
heved. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he 
must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went 
away again unto their own home. 

faith and grace, the follies and corruptions of the world, where would be His joy, or how could it 
be said that His kingdom is come upon earth, or that the life of believers is " hid with Him in 
God ?" The mortification of vicious desires is the being crucified with Christ ; and he alone can 
truly and with reasonable confidence rejoice in the triumphs of tliis day wlio has so offered himself 
as a living sacrifice on the Cross of his Saviom-. Blessed are they who have already prepared 
themselves in this manner for the keeping of Easter ! and great is their happiness who, having 
learnt the goodness of God by the working of His preventing grace, are preparing themselves to 
make the sacrifice which, though too long deferred, is now ready for the Lord's acceptance. 

The Gospel.— The veneration which Christ had inspired did not cease with His earthly career. 
Though in the grave. He still exercised, by the sublimity of His doctrines, and the memorials of 
charity and holiness which He had left behind, a deep and unchanging power over the affections of 
His followers. The presence of Mary Magdalene and others at His grave, preventing the dawn of 
day by their assiduity, afibrds an interesting proof of this permanency of their devotion, and of its 
independence in respect to other and grander evidences of His divinity. But early as they were at 
the tomb, — early as love and veneration had broken their slumbers — Christ had left His bed in the 
tomb before them. The Sun of Kighteousness rose to shed His benignant beams upon the world 
long before the natural day returned to diffuse its lustre on suffering mankind. And thus it was 
at the first,— God's love poured forth its streams of blessed light, preparing thereby both nourish- 
ment and a path for the light which was to supply the inferior necessities of our nature. But let us 
look at the little group which surrounds the tomb. Nearest to it, and with sorrow, penitence, and 
love depicted on her countenance, stands Mary Magdalene, the emancipated and the purified. There 
also is St. John, hi? thoughtful look almost illuminated witli hope and anticipated triumph even 
at the grave of his Master ; and there, too, stands St. Peter, his eyes scarce dry,— his whole ap- 
pearance that of one who still feels the anguish of some recollected instance of ingratitude per- 
petrated against a beloved and lamented friend. To some one or the other in that little group we 
may, perhaps, liken ourselves. Happy for us if we can do so ; for to every one in that circle did 
" the sun of righteousness arise with healing on his wings." Peter, not content with the general 
announcement made to him by Mary, enters the sepulchre. John follows him. The grave then, 
for the first time, lost its terrors. It had given up the dead, retaining only the memorials of its 
own defeat. Had the minds of the two Apostles been at that moment sufficiently free from wonder, 
they would have exclaimed, " O death where is thy sting ! O grave where is thy victory ? ' But 
the sublime truth filled them witli unutterable awe and delight. They now saw that tljey had 
not believed in vain. Peter could repeat with new devotion, " Thou art indeed the Christ, the 
Son of the living God ;" and John rejoice with a deeper joy than ever in the manifested truth 
and glory of his Master. For mankind at large it was the mightiest event that had ever occurred. 
It was equivalent to a new creation ; for with Christ the whole world arose, as it were, from the 
grave of sin to life and gladness. 

194 



Monday in JEaster-iveeL 




LMIGHTY God, who through thy 
only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast 
overcome death, and opened unto 
us the gate of everlastrng hfe; We 
humbly beseech thee, that, as by 
thy special grace preventing us thou 
dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy con- 
tinual help we may bring the same to good eflfect ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one 
, world without end. Amen. 

The Collect.— Not only was the whole of Easter week anciently observed with religions festi- 
vity, but the period which intervened between that week and Whitsuntide, was almost entirely 
devoted to similar exercises of holy gratitude. The times are changed, and mankind have gene- 
rally come to the conclusion that the business of the world could not go on were so much attention 
paid to the claims of religion and the church . It may be alleged, we fear, with better reason, that 
the long-continued festivities of the early Christians were in later times so much abused to pur- 
poses of superstition, on the one hand, and licentiousness on the other, that it was the part of 
wisdom to abridge their duration. Our reformers acted on the conviction that such was the case ; 
and therefore limited the festival to the Monday and Tuesday. To the observance of these days 
it affectionately calls its faithful children ; and surely they who feel what it is to have been re- 
deemed from death will not think they make a too expensive sacrifice, though they should, for 
the third part of a week, give themselves up to the worship and praise of their Benefactor. 

195 



MONDAY IN EASTEK-WEEK. 




The Epistle, Acts. x. 34. 

ETEE opened his mouth, and said, 
Of a truth I perceive that God is no 
respecter of persons ; but in every 
nation he that feareth him, and 
worketh righteousness, is accepted 
with him. The word which God 
sent unto the children of Israel, 
preaching peace by Jesus Christ; 
(he is Lord of all ;) that word (I say) ye know, which 
was published throughout all Jud^a, and began from 
Galilee, after the baptism which John preached: how 
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, 
and with power ; who went about doing good, and healing 
all that were oppressed of the devil : for God was with 
him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, 
both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom 
they slew, and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up 
the third day, and shewed him openly; not to all the 
people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even 
to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from 
the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the 
people, and to testify that it is he who was ordained of 
God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give 
aU the prophets witness, that through his Name who- 
soever beheveth in him shall receive remission of sins. 

The Epistle.— The great theme of the first preachers was the resurrection. On tliis they insisted 
Tvith the deepest interest whether addressing Jews or Gentiles. The Pharisees and Sadducees of 
Jerusalem, and the proud philosophers of Athens, were to be argued with on this solemn truth, the 
cmcihed Jesus has risen from tJie dead. " Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him 
openly ; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God." The assertion of a fact 
IS far more open to contradiction, unless supported by the firmest evidence, than any species of 
doctrine or theory. In coming forward, therefore, with a plain and direct statement of their 
Master s resurrection, the disciples of Christ pursued a course which they dare not have attempted 
to follow but with the knowledge that they were speaking truth. The miracle of the resurrection 
was not witnessed by the proud and disbelieving multitude who had despised all the preceding 
mamfestations of the divine power in Christ. But to those who already gladly owned him as their 
Master He proved His return from the grave by frequent personal communications ; and not con- 
fimng this simple and incontrovertible proof of His resurrection to His Apostles merely. He appeared 
to " five hundred brethren at once." These chosen witnesses evinced their conviction of the truth 
■of what they asserted, by stating it fearlessly in the face of powerful enemies, and then gladly laying 

196 



MONDAY IN EASTEE-WEEK. 




The Gospel. St. Luke xxiv, 13. 

EH OLD, two of his disciples went 
that same clay to a yihage called 
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem 
about threescore furlongs. And they 
talked together of all these things 
which had happened. And it came 
to ]3ass, that while they communed 
together, and reasoned, Jesus him- 
self drew near, and AA^ent with them. But their eyes 
were holden, that they should not know him. And he 
said imto them. What manner of communications are 
these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are 
sad ? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, 
answering, said unto Him, Ai't thou only a stranger in 
Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are 
come to pass there in these clays? And he said unto 
them, What things ? And they said unto him. Concern- 
ing Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in 
deed and word, before God and all the people: and how 
the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be 
condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we 
trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed 
Israel : and besides all this, to-day is the third day since 
these things were done. Yea, and certain women also 
of our company made us astonished, which were early at 
the sepulchre ; and when they found not his body, they 
came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, 
which said that he was alive. And certain of them 
which were mth us went to the sepulchre, and found it 
even so as the women had said ; but him they saw not. 
Then he said unto them, fools, and slow of heart to 
believe all that the prophets have spoken : ought not 

down their lives in proof both of their faithfiilness and their innocency. The sufferings of then- 
Master were not forgotten, and nothing could have taught either Peter, or any other follower of 
Christ, to continue the preaching of his doctrines, after they saw Him die, except the knowledge 
that He had triumphed over the power of the grave, and tliat they should tiiumph in Him. 
197 



MONDAY IN EASTEE-WEEK. 



Christ to have suffered these thmgs, and to enter into 
his glory ? And beginning at Moses, and all the pro- 
phets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the 
things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto 
the village whither they went ; and he made as though 
he would have gone further : but they constrained him, 
saying. Abide with us, for it is toAvards evening, and the 
day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 
And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he 
took bread and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 
And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and 
he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to 
another. Did not our heart burn within us, while he 
talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us 
the Scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and 
returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered 
together, and them that were with them, saying. The 
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And 
they told wdiat things were done in the way, and how he 
was known of them in breaking of bread. 

The Gospel. — The interesting narrative contained in tliis Gospel, and which is given "by St. 
Luke only, fills the mind with many delightful sentiments. Our Lord, just risen from the tomb, 
— returned to this earth from the mansions of the dead — is seen pursuing His path along the road 
to the rural village of Emmaus. The fervours of the day are past, and the tranquil afternoon 
-hours dispose men's thoughts to quiet meditation. Unable to occupy their minds with other cares, 
the disciples of Jesus can think only of His sufferings, or of the prospects which are before them, 
as the followers of One so obnoxious to the rest of their countrymen. Still ignorant of the true 
meaning of His words, or of the spuitual interpretation of the prophets, all the sad circumstances 
of the crucifixion present themselves to their memory. They behold the afflicted Jesus sinking 
under His Cross, then bleeding upon it, and at last exclaiming, " My God ! My God ! why hast 
thou forsaken me ?" To these melancholy proofs of the power of the world armed against the 
innocent Sufferer, they have as yet nothing to oppose but the report of the women who spread the 
tidings of His resurrection. Far from convinced by that report, theii- minds are only placed thereby 
in a state of anxious surmising. TVith the natural tendency of deep sorrow, they are more inclined 
to brood over the cause of their grief than to examine carefully the reasons for hope. Even to a 
stranger they readily make known the subject which so painfully employs their thoughts. Great 
must have been their astonishment when they found m that stranger one so much better acquainted 
than themselves with the writings of the prophets; — when they felt their minds draAvn gradually 
on to contemplate the long series of revelations with a feeling and understanding of then- nature 
altogether new ; — and at last saw that as they ought to have looked for the sufferings of Christ, so 
they might now confidently trust to the report of the women, and believe in His resurrection. 
Lnpressed with the power of the Sti-anger's words, their hearts glowing with hope — their souls 
exalted to grander views of Christ's promises and doctrines — they reach the village when the 
evening is already far advanced ; and their mysterious Companion prepares to bid them farewell. 
But He permits Himself to be constrained to abide with them till He has bestowed the bread of 
life, and in bestowing that which has opened their eyes, and enabled them to discern in the Com- 
panion of their joumej- — the crucified Jesus and the Lord of Life ! 

198 



Tuesday in Easter'toeek. 





The Collect, 
LMIGHTY God, who through thy 
only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast 
OYercome death, and opened unto 
us the gate of everhasthig hfe ; AYe 
humbly beseech thee, that, as by thy 
special grace preventing us thou 
dost put into our minds good desires, 



TUESDAY IN EASTEE-WEEK. 



so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good 
effect through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, 
^vorld without end. A7nen. 



The Ejjistle. Acts xiii. 26. 




EN and brethren, children of the 
stock of Abraham, and whosoever 
among you feareth God, to you is 
the word of this salvation sent. For 
they that dwell at Jerusalem, and 
their rulers, because they knew^ him 
not, nor yet the voices of the pro- 
phets which are read every sabbath- 
day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And 
though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired 
they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had 
fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down 
from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God 
raised him from the dead: and he was seen many days 
of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jeru- 
salem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we 
declare unto you glad tidmgs, how that the promise 
which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the 
same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up 
J esus again ; as it is also written in the second Psalm, 
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And 
as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now 

The Collect. — The Collect is repeated on this as ou the preceding day, according to the 
ancient custom of using the same throughout the week succeeding a great festival. Independently 
of early usage, many reasons may be urged to justify the repetition of prayers which are in them- 
selves fit and spiritual. The mind does not always take in, at once, the full meaning of even 
ordinary words ; — much less does it always comprehend the spiritual force of those employed to 
express devotion, faith, and the desires of a soul striving after the perfecting graces of holiness. 
It is not the repetition of the same prayer which can hinder the progress of devotion ; but the 
indulgence of that loose and apathetic state of mind in which prayer is so often begun, and which, 
continuing, would render any form of words useless and oppressive, however often varied, or how- 
ever beautiful and sublime. Formerly the Wednesday in Easter Week was kept ; but though the 
observance of only two days is now provided for by Epistles and Gospels, the proper Preface in the 
Communion is said to be for Easter Day and seven days after. 

200 



TUESDAY IN EASTEE-WEEK. 

no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, 1 
will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he 
saith also in another Psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine 
Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had 
served his own generation by the will of God, fell on 
sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption : 
But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be 
it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that 
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness 
of sins: and by him all that beheve are justified from 
all things, from which ye could not be justified by the 
law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon 
you which is spoken of in the prophets ; Behold, ye 
despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work 
in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, 
though a man declare it unto you. 




The Gospel. St. Luke xxiv. 36. 

ESUS himself stood in the midst of 
them, and saith unto them. Peace be 
unto you. But they were terrified 
and affrighted, and supposed that 
they had seen a spirit. And he said 
unto them, Why are ye troubled, and 
why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? 
Behold my hands and my feet, that 
I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not 
and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had 

The Epistle.— In this noble specimen of apostolic preaching the resurrection of om- Lord is 
described as the fulfilment of God's promise both to the patriarchs and to their children. Eeligion 
contemplates the glory of the Almighty Father and the happiness of His creatures. But neither 
the one nor the other could be secured without that system of grace which the resurrection has 
confirmed. Man, under bondage to sin, can offer no acceptable homage to the God of righteous- 
ness ;— can perform none of the duties whereby the will of God is established, or the perfection of 
His goodness illustrated. To render this acceptable service, he must first be set free from the 
thraldom of a corrupt spirit, and be taught by new principles of bemg to rejoice in the holiness which 
forms the happiness of heaven. And this renewal of his nature is provided for m the Christian 
system. He begins by a resurrection ; and the sense that he has been recovered from the power of 
sin is the grand evidence whereby he stands assured that he shall enjoy a higher and more per- 
manent state of existence. The resurrection of Christ seals these expectations. " Thou art my 
Son : this day have I begotten Thee," is apphed to Jesus raised by the Spirit from the grave. 
The ^puit has already exercised His power on the regenerated Christian. He^too is taught to 



it IS 

flesh 



201 



2 D 



TUESDAY IN EASTEK-WEEK. 



thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And 
while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said 
unto them. Have ye here any meat ? And they gave him 
a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honey-comb. And he 
took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, 
TJiese are the words which I spake unto you, while I was 
yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were 
written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in 
the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their under- 
standing, that they might understand the Scriptures, and 
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved 
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; 
and that repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in His Name among all nations^ beginning at 
Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. 

cry " Abba, Father !" by that reviving influence ; and thus the mystery of redemption brings the 
Saviour and the saved under the same system of restoration — the One from the sorrows to which 
He voluntarily submitted himself ;— the other from the bondage under which he groaned, but 
without any original desire to be set free. To this consummation of the plan of deliverance the 
promises of God continually pointed. Man was to be regenerated, and to recover his immortality. 
One mighty Saviour was appointed to secure both his escape from sin and his subsequent enjoy- 
ment of eternal glory ! This end accomplished, the human race again becomes capable of serving 
God, and its happiness is secm-ed at the same instant that it recovers its power of glorifying the 
Deliverer. 

The Gospel— The disciples who had been so signally favoured by the presence of Jesus on the 
way to Emmaus, hastened back to Jerusalem, rejoicing at having such glad tidings to communi- 
cate to their fellow-believers. They found them engaged in earnest converse on the one absorbing 
subject of their Master's reported resurrection. Doubt still oppressed them. They were yet with- 
out sufficient proof of the truth to persuade them that the women were not deceived by some illusion 
of mind. The intelligence brought by the disciples who had been to Emmaus gave a new impulse to 
inquiry. But the information they conveyed was only of the same kind as that which had been 
already received. In the midst of the solemn debate which had arisen, and when all minds and 
hearts were intently engaged in weighing the strange accounts which had been communicated, — 
Jesus Himself appeared ! The fears excited by His presence were not allowed long to trouble the 
hearts of the disciples. With the tenderness of a loving friend, and the earnestness of a teacher 
that never refused to demonstrate the truth according to the necessities of His hearers, He subdued 
their terror by the most palpable demonstrations of His identity and substantial presence. " Behold 
my hands and my feet I" — those hands and feet in which the prints of the nails were still to be seen. 
And who else could it be but Jesus that had thus descended from the cross to the tomb, and returned 
thence to manifest His power over death ? Or what vision — what disembodied spirit could have 
presented such infullibl e signs of corporeal suffering ? The proof was too strong to be resisted ; — and 
it was a proof most agreeable to the natural wishes of the human mind. It had long been allowed that 
the spirit might live, and that, under certain conditions, it might make itself visible to the eyes of 
men ; but never till now had it been really believed that the body might return from the stern 
embraces of death, and, under the power of the invigorating soul, come unharmed from the depths 
of the grave. But here all was proved that the hearts of men sigh to find established when 
trembling either at their own mortality or at the decay which they behold in those they love. 
Joy at the triumph of their Master was doubtlessly the first feeling which occupied the minds of 
the disciples ; but with that, it is equally certain, soon mingled the countless tribe of hopes and 
gladdening thoughts which fill, even to this day, the souls of those who practically feel that 
immortalih' is broufiht to light hx Jesu? Christ. 

202 



The First Sunday after Easter, 




LMIGHTY Father, who hast given 
thme only Son to die for our sins, 
and to rise again for our justification ; 
Grant us so to put away the leaven 
W^&l. of malice and wickedness, that we 
-h^./^ may alway serve thee in pureness of 
living and truth ; through the merits of the same thy 
Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 

The Collect.^ — It is a wonderful proof of the Almighty's goodness that He should permit 
us to address Him by the title of Father. We require many arguments and proofs of 
benevolence to convince us, that we have authority to approach with such a title the infinite and 
eternal God. And we are not without these assurances that He willingly bears us when our lips 
pronounce Him, what our hearts ought to feel Him to be, our Fatlier, as well as our Lord and 
Creator, The benignity displayed in nature, — the merciful arrangements of Providence,— and all 
the diversified means employed for the recovery of the huiiaan race from sin and misery, afford in 
their several classes a distinct manifestation of God's paternal goodness. But while all these 
united would be inferior to that proof of Fatherly regard alluded to in this Collect, so is each 
enlarged and confirmed thereby, for the blessings of redemption seal every inferior good with the 
signet of eternal love. The First Sunday after Easter was formerly called Low Sunday, — that is, 
inferior in dignity to Easter Day itself : and sometimes Dominica in Albis, in reference to the 
change of garments which took place,— the newly-baptized now laying aside their white robes. 
The present Collect is that originally inserted in the reformed Liturgy, and used at the Second 
Communion on Easter Day. It was afterwards omitted, and the first for Easter Day repeated. 

203 



THE FIEST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 




The Epistle. 1 St. John v. 4. 

HATSOEYEK is born of God over- 
cometli the world ; and this is the 
victory tliat oyercometh the world, 
even our faith. Who is he that over- 
cometh the world, but he that be- 
lieveth that Jesus is the Son of God ? 
This is he that came by water and 
blood, eyen Jesus Christ; not by 
water only, but by water and blood : and it is the Spirit 
that beareth ^^itness, because the Spirit is truth. For 
there are three that bear record in heayen, the Father, 
the AYord, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one. 
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, 
and the water, and the blood : and these three agree in 
one. If we receive the witness of men, the ^ntness of 
God is greater : for this is the witness of God, which he 
hath testified of his Son. He that belieyeth on the Son 
of God hath the witness in himself : he that belieyeth not 
God hath made him a liar, because he belieyeth not the 
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, 
that God hath giyen to us eternal life ; and this life is in 
his Son. He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that 
hath not the Son hath not Hfe. 



The Epistle. — St. John vindicates his right to the character of the " beloved disciple " by the 
close correspondence of all that he says to the doctrine of his adorable Master, The necessity of 
divine regeneration -^'as insisted upon by Jesus, as occupying every portal to the kingdom of 
heaven; and St. John tells us that "whoever is thus re-bom, " overcometh the world," the dark 
antagonist of righteousness. Christ came by water and blood : hj water, when He consecrated 
baptism to the washing away of sin, and as the sign of His own new covenant ; and by blood, 
when He poured it forth upon the Cross, cleansing thereby the defiled conscience, and satisfying 
the offended justice of Jehovah. The Father bore witness to His truth by the mii-acles which He 
wimight in Him ; and to His innocence by raising Him from the dead : and the Holy Spirit gave 
like testimony to Jesus, confirming whatever He had taught, — establishing the hearts of His dis- 
ciples in the piue doctrine of the Cross, and leading them fortli by His own invincible energy to 
the conquest of the world. And while the Father and the Holy Ghost testify to the truth of Christ, 
so does He also bear -fitness to them. In Him are manifested the goodness and the justice of the 
former ; the subhme attributes of the truth and msdom which belong to the other. Uniting in 
tlie work of salvation, they bear witness both in heaven and on eartb to the stedfastness of the 
decree whereby man is saved through the infinite love of God, and yet by methods which are as 
accordant with His justice, as they are illustrative of His mercy. But happy are we that it depends 
not upon our reasoning to find out the way of salvation. We have the plain and inefiaceable 
record, =' that God hath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in His Son. He that hath the 
Son hath life ; and he that hath not the Sou hath not life." 

204 



THE FIEST SUNDAY AFTEK EASTEE. 



The Gospel. St. John xx. 19. 

HE same day at evening, being the 
first day of the week, when the doors 
were shut, where the disciples were 
assembled for fear of the Jews, came 
Jesus and stood in the midst, and 
saith unto them. Peace be unto you. 
And when he had so said, he shewed 
unto them his hands and his side. 
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. 
Then said Jesus to them again. Peace be unto you : As 
my Father hath sent me, eyen so send I you. And when 
he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto 
them, Eeceiye ye the lioly Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye 
remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoeyer sins 
ye retain, they are retained. 

The Gospel— Again we contemplate the wonderful appearance of Cbrist to His disciples on 
the day of the resm-rection. The circumstance is in itself sufficiently interesting to command 
attention. All our natural doubts and fears are wrought upon by such an event. Death— so long, 
so instinctively regarded as unconquerable— had been made to confess itself vanquished. The 
grave— so terrible to the eye and the imagination— had admitted the fresh air and the broad 
daylight of heaven, for a Being who had experienced the power of both, was now seen among 
His accustomed companions in the full strength and glory of humanity. But the wonder was 
accompanied by a mystery :— Jesus appeared in the midst of His disciples with tlie suddenness of 
a spirit. Though bearing the substantial form of living man, He was known to have come from 
unseen worlds, the inhabitants of which had nothing in common with the nature or laws of material 
beings. Awe, approaching to terror, was the first sentiment which might be expected to occupy 
the minds of men on such an occasion. The human soul involuntarily shrinks from contact with 
that which seems to belong to the empire of death, to which, since the fall, all has ever been sup- 
posed to pertain that has passed through the grave. " They were terrified and affrighted," says 
St. Luke, " and supposed that they had seen a spirit." But St. John passes over the recollection 
of the fear excited at the first appearance of Jesus, to fix for ever in men's minds the delightful 
memory of His benignant greeting. The wonder, we have said, was accompanied by a mystery : 
both were embraced in a blessing. " Peace be with you !" were the gracious words which fell 
from the lips of the risen Saviour, as " Peace I leave with you " were among the last which He 
spoke when He was about to enter upon His sufferings. Gladness filled the hearts of the dis- 
ciples when thus addressed. Astonishment yielded to the sweeter emotions of love and gratitude. 
And yet was there another fear to be awakened ;— another link to be added to the chain of new 
thoughts and sentiments which had its commencement with the manifestation of Christ as the 
resurrection and the hfe. Again He says to His now adoring disciples, " Peace be unto you !" and 
they find themselves endowed with an authority which elevates them at once above all who ever 
before conveyed the knowledge of God's will to mankind. It is of vast importance to the right 
understanding of Scripture that we attend to the sequence of occurrences. Christ gave His Apostles 
the right of proclaiming the pardon of sinners, or their continuance in condemnation. We ask. 
How can man forgive sins? Is it not reserved to God alone to pronounce the remission of the 
penalties of iniquity ? But on looking attentively at the narrative, we find it especially recorded, 
that Christ had breathed on His Apostles, and said to them, Keceive ye the Holy Ghost !" before 
He endowed them with that otherwise unaccountable gift of authority to declare sins pardoned, or 
to declare them retained. 

205 ^ ■ ; 




The Second Sunday after Easter. 




LMIGHTY God, who hast given 
thine only Son to be unto us both 
a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample 
of godly life ; Give us grace that we 
may always most thankfully receive 
that his inestimable benefit, and also 
daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps 
of his most holy life ; through the same Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen, 



The Collect. — The complete view of the Gospel is that alone which satisfies thoughtful and 
devout hearts. To behold the Son of God dying as a sacrifice for sin fills the soul with awe and 
astonishment ; but the sentiments which thence arise receive a more defined and permanent form 
at every fresh recollection of his words and actions. The sacrifice gave a sacramental force to the 
example ; the example teaches the necessity, and proves the value of the sacrifice. May we ever 
possess grace to know the worth of the one, and yield ourselves gladly to the power of the other ! 
Jesus Christ will then be to us all that our heavenly Father intended Him to be, the Author and 
the Finisher of our salvation. This Collect was first inserted at the revisal in 1549. 

206 



THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTEE EASTER. 



The Epistle. 1 St. Pet. ii. 19. 

HIS is thankworthy, if a man for 
conscience toward God endure grief, 
suffering wrongfully. For what glory 
is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your 
faults, ye shall take it patiently? 
But if, when ye do well, and suffer 
for it, ye take it patiently ; this is 
acceptable with God. For even 
hereunto were ye called : because Christ also suffered for 
us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps : 
who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth : 
who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he 
suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to 
him that judgeth righteously : who his omi self bare our 
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to 
sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye 
were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but 
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your 
souls. 

The Gospel. St. John x. 11. 

ESUS said, I am the good shepherd: 
the good shepherd giveth his life for 
the sheep. But he that is an hire- 
ling, and not the shepherd, whose 
own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf 
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and 
fleeth ; and the wolf catcheth them, 
and scattereth the sheep. The hire- 
ling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for 

The Epistle. — This Epistle breatlies ctf tlie times wlien it was folly in a man to think of em- 
bracing the Gospel, or following Christ, without being willing to take up the Cross. The religion 
of the New Testament has changed the views of thoughtful minds on almost every subject that 
can engage inquiry. Honour is ascribed to fortitude by the world, but it takes little care to con- 

207 





THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTEK EASTER 



the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, 
and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even 
so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the 
sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this 
fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my 
voice ; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 

sider whether the suffering under which no complaint is made, be merited or not. The G-ospel, on 
the contrary, denies tliat any honour is due to those, however great their suflferings and their 
patience, wliose folly or whose wickedness has brought upon them the resentment of mankind. 
To be acceptable with God while we resign ourselves to the infliction of suffering, we must be able 
to show that it is not for our vices but for our virtues that the world persecutes us ; that it is not 
because we have added to its miseries that it pursues us with resentment and hatred, but because 
we have resisted its follies, and its headlong course to destruction. A lesson like this, though 
strictly conformable to right reason, would have little weight with mankind at large ; and they who 
most readily and devoutly acknowledge its truth, are obliged, at the same time, to confess that it 
is only when viewing it in the light of Christ's example that they can practically yield to the force 
of such a morality. The Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, He has called us from sin to holiness, 
from the deceits of the world, to the full and perfect truth of heaven. But he leaves us in the 
midst of sinners to warn them also of the error of their ways ; to let our light sliine before them, that 
they may have some knowledge of the beauty of holiness. And if, in fulfilling these designs of 
our existence, we suffer, and take it patiently, then assuredly shall we be acceptable with God and 
with Christ, whose example we are thus endeavouring to follow. 

The Gospel. — Our Lord assumed the most endearing titles in addressing His disciples ; and, if 
we may so speak, permitted Himself to be anticipated in this respect by His forerunner, who, in 
designating Him as the Lamb of God," proclaimed by that one name His power to redeem, His 
holiness. His pmity, His gentleness and His love. In His later conversations with the Apostles, 
Jesus spoke of Himself under almost every figure which could illustrate the merciful character of 
His doctrine. At one time He describes Himself as a door through which the flock passes freely 
to its pasturage, or its secure fold. At another time, He describes Himself as the vine which His 
Father, the chief husbandman, planted ; and leads the thoughts of His people to contemplate the 
graciousness of His nature, — the generosity of His purposes, — His will and His power to heal the 
broken spirit and comfort the sad and desolate heart. In the present Gospel we behold Him as 
the good Shepherd ; and under this image how many gentle characteristics arrange themselves, 
teaching us to love and follow, as well as adore, the Saviour of our souls ! A shepherd in the 
rocky wilds of Palestine needed both courage and tenderness. The danger of the flock was His 
own danger : and from the nature of the country ; — the abrupt precipices which intersected the 
mountains, — the sudden storms to which it was liable, — and the roaming herds of wild animals 
which often prowled in the neighbourhood of the fold — obliged Him to be continually on the watch. 
And was He to leave any of His flock, perhaps the tenderest, if it strayed, into danger ? Was He 
not rather to seek it, and bear it home ? Or was He to allow the wolf to approach, and flee, anxious 
only about His own safety ? Was He not rather to provide first, by His zealous diligence and 
love, for the preservation of the flock ? Our Lord, by assuming to Himself the character of a 
good shepherd, not only conveyed comfort to the hearts of those who then heard Him speak, but 
by taking upon Himself all the responsibility of such an office, taught His people in every age to 
feel confident of His mercy and protection. 



208 



The Third Sunday after Eeister. 





The Collect, 
LMIGHTY 
God, who 
sliewest to 
them that be 
in error the 
hght of thy 
truth, to the 
intent that they may return 
into the way of righteousness ; 
Grant unto all them that are 
admitted into the fellowship 
of Christ's Religion, that they 
may eschew those things that 
are contrary to their profes- 
sion, and follow all such things 
as are agreeable to the same; 



ough our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, 



The Collect. — Among the innumerable mercies of our heavenly Father, that which is named 
in the introductory sentence of this Collect deserves our profoundest gratitude. Involved in error 
that defies the efforts of human wisdom, the majority of our race would remain for ever subjected 
to ignorance and sorrow were it not for the light which flows direct from heaven. Truth is too 
little cherished among us to be known in its native excellence and brightness. When Pilate asked, 
" What is truth ?" the world would have answered, "The knowledge of good and evil." But 
knowledge is dependent on the wdll and capacity of the human mind ; truth is the result of the 
glorious harmony which exists between all the attributes of the infinite Jehovah. The light of this 
truth He sheds upon men's souls, that they may see the way which leads to holiness and peace. 
Obedient to the heavenly influence, many millions have rejoiced to follow in the track marked out ; 
they have found the gate, though narrow, open to admit them ; and the company of God's children 
ah-eady prepared to hail their entrance into His kingdom with songs of thanksgiving. Ad- 
mitted to the fellowship of Ohrisfs religion, for what can they now be more anxious than for the 
power which may enable them to act consistently with the dignity of their calling ? While in the 
world, they were free to pursue the course of sin and folly which the world allows its children 
uninterruptedly to follow. But they have left the world — the reign of error and corruption — the 
companionship of the children of wickedness — for the society of just men made perfect ; and the 
simplest lesson of consistency dictates to them, to renounce, with the world itself, the love of its 
follies, and, ceasing from pursuits so degrading to a redeemed and sanctified spirit, to follow the 
example of Christ and His people, and do whatever may be acceptable in the sight of God. It is 
for such purposes that He first bestowed upon us the light of His truth. The gracious gift may 
not be valued by us as it ought. We may pray in the words, but not in the spirit of this prayer; 
and, admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, may have still done what we ought not to 
have done, and left undone what it was our duty most earnestly to perform. Should this have 
been the case, let us with new fervour present the petitions here taught us. The light is given ; 
let it not be given in vain ! 

209 ^ 2 E 



THE THIKD SUNDAY AFTEE EASTEE. 



The Epistle, 1 St. Pet. ii. 11. 




EARLY beloved, I beseech you as 
strangers and pilgrims, abstain from 
fleshly lusts, which war against the 
soul; having your conversation honest 
among the Gentiles *, that, whereas 
they speak against you as evil doers, 
they may, by your good works which 
they shall behold, glorify God in the 
day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance 
of man for the Lord's sake ; whether it be to the King, 
as supreme ; or unto governours, as unto them that are 
sent by him, for the punishment of evil doers, and for the 
praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, 
that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance 
of foolish men : as free, and not using your liberty for 
a cloke of maliciousness ; but as the servants of God. 
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. 
Honour the King. 



The Gospel. 



St. John xvi. 1 6. 



ESUS said to his disciples, A little 
while and ye shall not see me ; and 
again, a little while and ye shall see 
me; because 1 go to the Father. 
Then said some of his disciples 
among themselves. What is this that 
he saith imto us, A little while and 
ye shall not see me ; and again, a 
little while and ye shall see me ; and, Because I go to 



The Epistle. — The lesson conveyed in tliis portion of- Scripture answers immediately to the 
petitions in the Collect. We there acknowledge the influence of the light of truth. It has shown 
to the erring the way of righteousness ; and here we meet them on their journey ; the world which 
was their home forsaken, and they, as strangers and pilgrims, seeking another dwelling-place, — 
" a city which liatii foundations, whose maker and builder is God." Entered upon their new course, 
they are exhorted by tlie Holy Spirit to cease from the evil practices which belonged to their former 
state, as wholly inconsistent with the prospects now opening before them. Nor is this all. They 
must not only cease from doing evil, — thoy must learn to do well. Their former conduct was unob- 

210 



THE THIED SUNDAY AFTEE EASTEE. 



the Father ? They said therefore, What is this that he 
saith, A httle while ? we cannot tell what he saith. Now 
Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said 
unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I 
said, A little while and ye shall not see me ; and again, 
a little while and ye shall see me? Verily, verily 1 say 
unto you. That ye shall weep and lament, but the world 
shall rejoice : and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow 
shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in 
travail, hath sorrow, because her hour is come : but as 
soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth 
no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the 
world. And ye now therefore have sorrow : but I will see 
you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no 
man taketh fi'om you. 

served by the world ; but since they have professed to be the servants of God and followers of Christ, 
they have been watched, and reproved with all the bitterness which hate engenders. The answer 
which their Master gave must be theirs. It is by arguments of well-doing they are to " put to 
silence the ignorance of foolish men." Carefully considering the various relations in which they 
stand to society, each will excite a corresponding feeling of responsibility : but the grand key- 
stone to the whole circle of their virtues will be the fear of God ; — the recollection that they are 
His servants, and that they belong to a brotherhood of which Jesus Christ is the tu-st-born. It 
is a melancholy proof of the corruption of the world that, while morality is often spoken of in con- 
tradistinction to the religion of the Gospel, so few persons can be brought to consider the matter 
with the Gospel before them ; for what does the Gospel here do but give the sublimest of aU 
sanctions to the precepts which are, in every respect, the most essential to social good ? 

The Gospel. — Our Lord was tenderly cautious in preparing the minds of His followers for the 
awful trial of faith to which His sufferings would subject them. Notwithstanding the mingled 
warnings and promises with which he fortified their sphits, they were scattered like sheep when 
the terrible hour arrived which left them without a Master. But it is not to be supposed that the 
means which He employed for strengthening then minds proved altogether vain. Human weak- 
ness was left to show itself, and convince the followers of Christ for ever after of the necessity of 
the presence of the divine Spirit whenever they would act or suffer as the servants of such a Lord. 
Yet when we carefully consider the state of mind in which the disciples were left by the cruci- 
fixion, there appears reason to believe that they had been already endowed with much of energy 
and wisdom. Though not clearly understanding the prophets, or believing with the faith which 
the Holy Spirit has since bestowed, they were sufficiently impressed with the conviction of Christ's 
holiness and power to expect important consequences from His sufferings. " Ye shall be sorrowful, 
but your sorrow shall be turned into joy," were words which evidently continued to have an echo 
in their hearts during the events which followed. Peter would never have dried his tears had he 
not remembered them ; nor would the eleven have kept together in such earnest converse had not 
the sorrow which they felt been tempered by the recollection of this gracious assurance, " Your 
sorrow shall be turned into joy." Onr Lord had been asked, with all the earnestness of combined 
curiosity and affection, " Whither goest thou T and He had answered, " Wliither I go thou canst 
not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards." Natural feeling prompted the inquuy ; 
but he who made it was a firm believer in the Messiahsliip of Christ; and the very zeal with 
which that belief was cherished rendered the mention of coming sorrows the more sad and in- 
tolerable. The shadow which the Cross thi'ew on the path of the prophets was easily overlooked 
by those who fixed then eyes on the glory in the distance. 

211 



The Fourth Sunday after Easter, 





V3 



The CGlIect, 

ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst 
order the rLnruly wiUs and affections 
of smful men ; Grant unto thy peo- 
ple, that thev may love the thmg 
which thou commandest, and desire 
■ ^ that which thou dost promise ; that 
so, amiong the sundry and manifold changes of the 
world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where 
true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen^ 




The Collect.— This Collect originally began ^\-itli the sentence, " Almighty God ^vhich dost 
make the minds of all faithful men to be of one will," which was altered at^he reTie^Y of the 
Liturgy into that with wliich the prayer at present commences. Civil or pohtical union is so 
essential to the happiness of mankind, that without it states fall rapidly to decay, and ^^irtue is 
almost as great a sufferer as peace. But the concord of men's hearts and minds is necessary to the 
firm establishment of even political tranquil litr, and the efficient operation of la^s^s and govern- 
ments. How ruuch more is it necessary to the furtherance of religion? To the .support of 
chm-ches? ^ To the securing of the general and just diiTusion of the means of grace, intelligence, 
and Christian holiness ? For private and individual happiness the same rule holds equally good. 
To be happy, we mu^t be at peace with ourselves ; and the gi'ace of God alone can so make one 
disposition,— one- priiK-iple of thouglit and nature within us, agree with another,— that our hearts 
shall remain fixe 1 where true joys are to be found. 

212 



THE FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE EASTER. 



The Epistle. St. James i, IT. 

YEEY good gift, and eA^ery perfect 
gift is from above, and cometh down 
from the Father of hghts, with whom 
is no variableness, neither shadow of 
tmiiing. Of his own mh begat he 
us with the Word of truth, that we 
should be a kind of first-fi'uits of his 
creatures. Wherefore, my beloved 
brethren, let every man be s^vift to hear, slow to speak, 
slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the 
righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness 
and supei-lluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness 
the enoTafted "Word, which is able to save vour souls. 

The Gosjjeh St. John xvi. 5. 

ESUS said unto his disciples, Xow^ 
I go mv wav to him that sent me, 
and none of you asketh me. Whither 
goest thou ? But, because I have 
said these things unto you, sorrow 
hath filled your heart. Xeverthe- 
less, I tell you the truth: it is ex- 
pedient for you that I go away : for 
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; 

The Epistle.— If we faiiiy consider either our past or present condition, we shall see liow mucli 
of onr happiness has been deriTed from others ; and from their hestowmg that which conld not 
have been claimed as a matter of right. But gifts partalie of the natine of the giver ; and thei-e 
is nothing which man lays claim to purely as his own, which is not weak and perishable as hhnself. 
Good and perfect gifts are things which hare an hitrinsic excellence ; and are. both m themselves 
absolutely, and to us relatively, endowed with perfection. There are principles in om: being 
which forbid our remaining contented with things not intrinsically good or perfect. That which 
is but seemingly so, angers and disappoints when its deceitiulness is discovered. That which is 
not good for us, loses its value in our eyes as soon as its inapphcability is made evident. Xow the 
gifts^ which pertain to our spiritual existence are to be especially examined ul these respects. 
They must come from a sphere beyond us,— they must be good, that is, pure and immixed;— they 
must be perfect in themselves— perfect in their sufBciency. The perfection of God secures not 
only the perfection but the continuance of His gifts, and it adds greatly to the value of any favom- 
tljat it is to be a permanent one. An unsteady friend is worse than no friend ; but God, unchauge- 
able as to His nature, is unchaugeable in His gifts and in His mercy. 

213 





THE FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE EASTEE. 



but if I depart, I >yill send him unto you. And when 
he is come, he' will reprove the world of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because they 
believe not on me ; of righteousness, because I go to my 
Father, and ye see me no more ; of judgement, because 
the prince of this world is judged. 1 have yet many 
things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 
Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will 
guide you into all truth : for he shall not speak of him- 
self; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shah he speak: 
and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify 
me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto 
you. All things that the Father hath are mine: there- 
fore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it 
unto you. 

The Gospel.— We now begin to receive tidings of the most precious and most glorious of all 
God's gifts, the life, gi-ace, wisdom, and comfort bestowed by His own eternal Spiidt. Christ 
would not leave His followers without the encom-agements and consolations proper to their situa- 
tion. They were called to His kingdom for peculiar objects, and if they left the world to join it, 
they were then most likely to be satisfied with the course they had taken, when they heard from 
His own Hps the promise of its noblest and happiest privileges. The very names by which He 
designated the blessed Spirit must have excited in thoughtful hearts the most exalted sentiments. 
He rej)resented Him as the Spirit of truth ; and, blending the sublimer visions which belong to 
that title ^-ith the milder consolations which the tremblmg soul so often requires, He next described 
Hun as the Comforter; and thus in the very elements of the Christian system we have truth and 
comfort united inseparably together, in the same manner as it was so long foretold to the fathers 
that mercy and trath, righteousness and peace, should bind themselves in an eternal bond of har- 
mony before the altar of God^s love. The promises of the Gospel may be classed under two heads ; 
those which regard om- nature, and those which refer to our state, or condition. Christ, in His last 
discourse with the Apostles, summed up the latter in this—" In my Father's house are many man- 
sions ; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." And the former 
in the assurance of the Holy Ghost as a Sanctifier ; a guide into all ti'uth, and a Comforter. A 
very complete view of the otfices of the blessed Spirit may be gathered from this portion of our 
Lord's discom-se. Foi-", first. He tells us what He would do in respect to the world ; He was to 
reprove it, that is, to convince it of its sin ; to contrast tliis its sm with the righteousness of God 
and His law, and to manifest the truth of all that had been said by natural conscience, and the 
wise and good, respecting the judgments of God against sm. Next He was to make known the 
full scope and intentions of the Gospel to those who humbly received the words of Christ, but 
who were not yet able to bear the complete revelation of the mystery of His sj^stem. And, in the 
third place. He was to glorify Christ, which was to be done by His confirming the truth of His 
word, — by His making known what peace and blessedness the Father had given to the redeemed, 
or was keeping in store for them,— and thereby demonstrating the sublime mystery, that whatever 
the Father hath has been bestowed upon the Son. " He shall take of mine, and shall show it 
unto yon," that is, shall exercise, for the establishment of my kingdom, the power which is given 
me ; Shall infuse into the soul of my people the hght of the wisdom which is my perfect attribute ; 
and 1)y many revelations of love, shall make manifest the riches of the glory of the inheritance 
which, through me, shall finally be given to the Saints. 



214 



The Fifth Sunday after Easter. 




The Collect. 

LORD, from whom all good things 
do come ; Grant to us thy humble 
servants, that by thy holy mspira- 
tion we may thmk those thmgs that 
be good, and by thy merciful guiding 
may perform the same ; through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 



fTHE Collect, — This short but beautifully simple prayer is couched in the true language 
\ of spiritual atfection. God is the giver of all good gifts ; and all things are in His power. 
He could bestow riches and honours : He could restore youth to the aged, and the beauty 

of childhood to the most decrepid : He could make the desert of the saddest life blossom like the 
rose, and surround the forsaken with a host of friends. This the believer knows and feels ; but it 
is not for such things tlie prayer of faith is put up. Of all that God can give, the most precious 
and the first asked for by the Christian is the power of thinking aright, the will to do aright. This 
blessing gained, a solid foundation is laid for future happiness, and patience awaits, with a peace 
which is its sufficient reward, for the glory to be revealed in the last times. 

The Epistle.— The law of the Gospel is the perfect law of liberty. Every system of positive 
laws will be good or bad, as it is agreeable or opposed to the natm-al rights and the social happiness 
of those whose conduct it regulates. Wisdom and justice, therefore, must be its basis : but law is 
for restraint on the will, and therefore contemplates the will in a state of resistance or rebelHon. 
The will may not always be in actual resistance, and yet may require a law ; laws become multi- 
plied and complicated, because the will of man is uucertain and capricious m its movements, but 

215 



THE FIFTH SUXDAY AFTEE FASTER. 



The Epistle. St. James i. 22. 

E ye doers of the Word, and not 
hearers only, deceivmp; vour own 
selves. For if any be a hearer of 
the Word, and not a doer, he is lil^e 
unto a man beholding his natural 
face in a glass. For he beholdeth 
himself, and goeth his way, and 
straightway forgetteth what manner 
of man he was. But whoso looketh mto the perfect law 
of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful 
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in 
his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, 
and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiyeth his own heart, 
this man s rehgion is vain. Pure religion, and undefiled 
before God and the Father, is this. To visit the fatherless 
and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself un- 
spotted from the world. 

The Gospel St. John xvi. 23. 

ERILY, verilj I say unto you, AAHiat- 
soever ye shall ask the Father in my 
Name, he will give it you. Hitherto 
have ye asked nothing in my Name : 
ask, and ye shall receive, that your 
joy may be full. These things have 
1 spoken unto you in proverbs : the 
time cometh when I shall no more 
speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly 

is always ready to assert its selfish powers and rights against those of others. The law of God is 
the rule laid down by the Maker to guide and govern the creatiu'e. This law consisted at first in 
the proper relations of the creature to its God, except in one particular instance of positive com- 
mand. The law by which angels are governed is a pm-e law of relations, that is, a law resulting 
from the relation in which they stand to God, that relation being rejoicingly and thankfully o\\-ned 
by them as the source of their happiness. Law, introduced as the antagonist of sin, commands, 
restrains, or condemns to captivity and death. It is therefore said to be the strength of sin, and 
to work wrath, and to have entered, " that the offence might abound." Contrasted with this law 
is the law of liberty. Law and liberty seem irrLconeileable terms; and so they are, absolutely 
-and positivelv crmsidered, except in the single cu^^e of the law of libertv. This is, in other words, 

216 





THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 



of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my Name : 
and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for 
you ; for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have 
loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the 
world : again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 
His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou 
plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that 
thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man 
should ask thee : by this we beheve that thou camest 
forth from God. Jesus answered them. Do ye now be- 
lieve ? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that 
ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall 
leave me alone : and yet I am not alone, because the 
Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto 
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye 
shall have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have over- 
come the world. 

" the law of the Spirit of life,"— of that Spirit for which the Psalmist prays, " Uphold me with 
thy free Spirit ;"— Psalm li. 12 : and " I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts."— cxix. 45. 
Isaiah says, "He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives ;" and St. Paul speaks of " the glorious 
liberty of the children of God," and affirms that, " Where tlie Spirit of the I.ord is, there is 
liberty !" The law of liberty, then, is the law which, setting the will free from the power of sin, 
rules it not by .positive precepts, except as they are all resolvable into the relation which exists 
between a loving God and creatures who only wish to live that they may glorify and dwell with 
the Author of theu- being and their happiness. 

The Gospel. — No greater consolation can be given to Christ's disciples than the assurance that, 
praying in His name, they are heard by God. The Apostles were lilled with sorrow at contem- 
plating the departure of theh Lord. They felt how little able they would be to sustain tliemselves 
in the lofty paths of holiness and wisdom, to which He pointed their steps, if He were not with 
them. To revive their drooping spirits, He assures them that His return to heaven, so far from 
being their loss, would prove their great and permanent gain : for that then, the work of redemp- 
tion being finished, they might ask of God whatever was needful for their success and happiness, 
and it would be given. The name of Christ embraces and represents the whole mystery of His 
nature and His offices. " His name shall be called Wonderful;" and to ask in His name is to 
make our appeal to the Father by an acknowledgment of all the operations of His gi-ace, and by 
entering ourselves into the consecrated channel of mercy. 

The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week are called Eogation-days, or Litany-days, 
that is, days of petition. They are said to have been first observed by Mamercus, bishop of Vienne 
in the sixth century, and who instituted this as a period of fasting and solemn prayer in the hope 
of averting the calamities with which the Church was, and ever has been, threatened from without. 
The custom was adopted in many of the western provinces, but not universally ; and the Greek 
Church never acknowledged its propriety. It was argued by those who rejected it, that the whole 
of the period intervening between Easter and Pentecost ought to be kept as a festival. Our own 
Church has chiefly marked its sense of the subject by appointing a homily for the Eogation-days ; 
and it would be well were its members, if they attended in no otherwise to the season, carefully to 
read this excellent piece of affectionate and sober divinity. Few persons can be so occupied as not 
to be able to do many things in conformity with the spmt and wishes of the Church, though not 
always able to attend its public orchnariCes. 

217 2 F 



The Ascension-day. 




The Collect, 

EANT, we beseech thee, Ahxiighty 
God, that hke as we do beheve thy 
only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus 
Christ to have ascended mto the 
heavens ; so we may also m heart 
and mmd thither ascend, and with 
him continually dwell, who liveth 
and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, 
world Avithout end. Amen. 
218 




THE ASCENSION-DAY. 



For the Epistle. Acts i. 1. 

HE former treatise have I made, 
Theophilus, of all tliat Jesus began 
both to do and teach, until the day 
in which he was taken up, after 
that he through the Holy Ghost had 
given commandments unto the Apos- 
tles whom he had chosen : to whom 
also he shewed himself alive after 
his passion, by many infallible proofs; being seen of 
them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining 
to the Kingdom of God : and, being assembled together 
with them, commanded them that they should not depart 
from Jerusalem, but Avait for the promise of the Father, 
which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly 
baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the 
Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore 
were come together, they asked of him, saying. Lord, wilt 
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 
And he said unto them. It is not for you to know the 
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his 
own power. But ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses 
unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in 

The Collect.— Eveiy article of the Cliristian's faith has in it much that is elevating and en- 
nobling. The personal history of the Saviour Himself raises the believer above the world, and 
habitually inclines hun to have his conversation in heaven. With Christ he leaves the grave, 
having already, in spirit, put off his mortaUty ;— with Christ he ascends, in thought, to those happy 
regions where the soul may contemplate the glories of eternity, and rejoice in the blessing of tlie 
Almighty Father ! To be able thus to converse with heaven in heart and mind is a privilege which 
might be envied by genius the most sublime. If we desire to be really wise and happy, let us 
endeavour to attain this true state of intellectual exaltation ; and then the next step in the advance- 
ment of our nature will be an actual ascension into those bright regions where Christ already 
reigns, and where He has prepared our homes. 

The Epistle.— Our Lord's ascension is the grandest event that history has ever had to record. 
Considered in itself, it exhibits the triumph of holiness over every adverse power. No shadow is 
seen upon the path of the Conqueror. The enemies with whom He had to contend are fled, or 
watch with terror and despair His approach to supreme dominion. When the subject is examined 
more closely, it is seen that holiness alone could have gained such a triumph. Every thing else 
has somewhat of weakness and insufficiency ; but holiness is the primal perfection of being, and it 
is that, therefore, in the exaltation of which whatever exists has a deep and permanent interest. 
Christ ascended into heaven by virtue of this principle ; holiness being the all-comprehensive 
quality of His nature,— the assertion of its sovereignty the end of His actions,— and the diflusion 
of its vivifying grace the result of His mediation. In restoring mankind to the favour of God, He 
had first to assert the necessity of their becoming obedient to His own perfect law. And to this 

219 




THE ASCEXSIOX-DAY. 



Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And 
when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he 
was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. 
And while they looked steadfestly toward heaven, as he 
went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel ; 
which also said. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up 
from vou into heaven, shaU so come, in hke manner as ve 
have seen him go into heaven. 

The GuspeL St. :\Iark xvi. 14. 

B ESUS appeared unto the eleven as 
p they sat at meat, and upbraided them 
^vith their unbehef and hardness of 
y heart, because they believed not them 
which had seen him after he was 
risen. And he said unto them, Go 
^- ye into all the world, and preach the 
Gospel to every creature. He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved : but he that 
believeth not shall be damned. And these si^ns shall 
fohow them that believe : In my Name shall they cast 
out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they shall 
take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing, it 
shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, 
and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had 
spoken unto them, he was receiA^ed up into heaven, and 
sat on the right hand of God, And they went forth and 
preached every v\-here, the Lord working with them, and 
confirming the ^Yord with signs following. 

obedience He brouglit those "svho fona His kingdom by the rule of His example, — the influence of 
His justifying sacrifice, — and the intervention of the Holy Spirit. By this process he led captivity 
capjtive ; and ascended into heaven, soon to be followed by the race ^vhich He had redeemed. Sin 
beheld its cords broken. It was no longer possible that the li\ ing spuit sIj iiiM, invohmtarily, be 
holden of them. In the ascension of Christ, therefore, mankiud at large triuii;i h. th^ way to htaven, 
through the vast tracks of star-jjaved space, being now open to every redeLmcd and regenerated 
soul ! 

The Gospel. —Our Lord spent His last moments on eaith in preparing His di^eipli - f-r the 
proper fitlriln.e; it of the duties which it buhoved them to j erfurm. The commi>-i-]i v Li m He 
gave them was solemn and comptrelieusive : it had no linjitation as to ]A;x<--(-_ or tini<;. The very 
simplicity of the charge artords evidenceof the universal power and s.jv.;-i_qiTv (,f Hiiu from whose 

220 




Sunday after Ascension-day, 




GOD the King of Glory, who hast 
exaUecl thine only Son Jesus Christ 
with great triumph unto thy kingdom 
in heaven ; We beseech thee, leave 
us not comfortless ; but send to us 
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us. and 
exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour 
Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with 
thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without 
^ end. Amen. 



lips it proceeded : — " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature and, as 
it is added in another place, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 

The Feast of the Ascension has been observed from the earliest times, and is supposed to have 
orio;inated in apostolic example, or in an ordinance of some council held in the primitive age. 
Both the Greek and Latin fathers speak of it as one of the great feasts of the Church, — of those 
joyous days in which the souls of believers were gladdened by hymns and prayers, and the 
spiritual discourses of men who gave their lives to the contemplation of the mysteries which they 
were set apart to explain to the people. 

The Collect. — It is the characteristic excellence of the Collects that they speak the language 
of times and seasons. That for the present Sunday anxiously expresses the request which the 
very witnesses of our Lord's ascension maybe supposed to have breathed when anxiously awaiting 
the coming of the Holy Ghost according to His promise. Convinced of His great glory, and 

221 ^ 



SUNDAY AFTEK ASCENSION-DAY. 



m Epistle. 1 St. Pet. iv. 7. 

HE end of all things is at hand ; be 
ye therefore sober, and watch unto 
prayer. And above all things have 
fervent charity among yourselves: 
for charity shall cover the multitude 
of sins. Use hospitality one to an- 
other without grudging. As every 
man hath received the gift, even so 
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the 
manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak 
as the oracles of God : if any man minister, let him do it 
as of the ability which God giveth ; that God in all things 
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise 
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 





The Gospel. St. John xv. 26 and part of Chap, xvi, 

HEX the Comforter is come, whom 
I will send unto you from the Father, 
even the Spirit of truth, which pro- 
ceedeth fi'om the Father, he shall 
testify of me. And ye also shall 
bear witness, because ye have been 
with me from the beginning. These 
things have I spoken unto you, that 
ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the 

lia\-mg all the demonstrations Vy-hich faith can receive from without, they yet needed the internal 
illumination, — the comfort which the heart and mind can obtain only from the communication of 
the eternal Spirit The more intense the conyiction of Christ's power, truth, or exaltation, gained 
by the eye or the ear, the more earnestly does the soul desire the evidence which is peculiar 
to its own natai'e. Mentally assured, we may yet be siDuitually weah and sad, and so must remain 
till the Holy Ghost fulfil Christ's promise in om- favour, and diffuse His blessed graces through 
our being. 

The Epistle. — Exhortations to serious thought, and the practice of Christian virtues, have a 
peculiar propriety in seasons of religious festi\dty. Always ready to escape from the actual per- 
formance of duty, and satisfy ourselves with an appearance of zeal, we need to be warned continu- 
ally to add to our faith virtue. The knowledge of divine mysteries will not of itself suffice to tlie 
purifying of the heart, or urging it forward in the career of good. Watchfulness and prayer must 
be exercised, that the grace of God may not be given in vain. We shall then be able to combine 
the announcement, " the end of all things is at hand," v>-ith a most joyful expectation of happiness 
and glorv. 

222 



SUNDAY AFTEE ASCENSION-DAY. 



synagogues : yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth 
you will think that he doeth God service. And these 
things will they do unto you, because they have not knoAvn 
the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, 
that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I 
told you of them. 

The Gospel— Our Lord was too generous as well as too holy to leave His followers ignorant of 
the perils which they were about to encounter. He had said from the beginning that if any man 
would follow Him, he must take up the Cross, already an emblem of whatever was most painful 
and humiliating. At first these warnings seem to have been regarded by His disciples with little 
attention. They allowed themselves to hope that the sufferings alluded to would only be of the 
same natm-e with those which must always be encountered in the execution of great designs. A 
kingdom had to be recovered, a proud and benighted people subdued to the force of divine holi- 
ness, and the nations of the world driven back from the gate of God's sanctuary. This was the 
object which the more ardent of the disciples of Christ contemplated ; and warned by the sublime 
spectacle which it presented to their imagmation, they felt themselves ready to endure any of the 
preliminary dangers, that they might have their share in the lofty glories which should follow-. 
But as Christ approached the period of suffering. His intimations of the nature of the difficulties 
through which they would have to struggle became more and more plain. He now began to teach 
them that theh perils would not be like those of princes and warriors, but sad and private afflic- 
tions, such as try the heart, without affording it any of the relief which belongs to struggles of a 
prouder kind. They were to be put out of the synagogues,— to be regarded as enemies by their 
dearest friends,— to be hated and despised of all men,— and, at last, subjected to tortures and an 
ignommious death. It is not to be supposed that the disciples could hear these sad predictions 
unmoved ; or that they could continue to doubt the nature of the sufferings to which they were to 
be exposed, if they remained faithful to their Master. But it was the object of Jesus to warn, not 
depress ;— to prepare, not to alarm. He foretold their sorrows, that when the hoiw of trial arrived, 
they might not be offended, as at an unexpected change. And thus it is that He still instructs His 
people, if not directly yet most powerfully, by the lessons of His Gospel, and the general example 
of the Church. The Cross is still essential to the Christian pilgrim and warrior ; the resistance 
and enmity of the world, the machinations of the wicked, are as much opposed as ever to his pro- 
gress in the peaceful ways of righteousness ; and if he wish to do much in the service of the Saviour, 
it is scarcely to be hoped that few or none of these will be encountered in the progress of his labours. 
But in all cases the promise of Christ is, that He will send the Holy Spirit as a guide and com- 
forter ; a guide through the labyrinth,— a support in tribulation,— an instructor in fears and diffi- 
culties ;— a friend, in short, sufficient to effect everything which the heart may require when 
affected with sorrow, or ardently looking forward to the attainment of everlasting blessedness. 
The history of the first three centuries of the Church proves with fearful particularity the truth of 
our Lord's predictions ; but it proves with equal force and clearness the power of the Holy Spirit 
to fulfil His office of a comforter and guide into all truth. Never had human natm-e been so 
tried as it was in the early persecutions of Christ's disciples. The storm raged not against those 
merely who might seem fitted by a peculiar strength of character to meet its force ; but burst with 
equal force on the poor, the weak, the aged, and the young ; and finding in its fury that none could 
be shaken from the rock on which they had taken their stand. If it be inquired by what means 
this strange spectacle continued to be presented through successive generations,— how it was that 
the weak acted as if they were possessed of the noblest courage, and men of simple understanding 
learned to breathe the sentiments of divine and elevated wisdom, — what answer can rationally be 
given but this :— that as tliey were called to suffer for the sake of Christ, so they received from 
Christ the gift of the Holy Ghost. 



223 



WHIT-SUNDAY. 





The Collect 

OD, who as at this time didst teach 
the hearts of thj^ faithful people, by 
the sending to them the hght of thy 
Holy Spirit ; Grant ns by the same 
Spirit to have a right judgement in 
all things, and evermore to rejoice 
in his holy comfort ; through the merits of Christ 
Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, 
in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world with- 
out end. Amen, 



The Collect. — The first sentence in tliis Collect carries the mind hack to that point of time 
in which the existence of the Christian chnrch began to be made manifest to the world. Its 
foundations were laid in Chiist ; but now the first of the living stones of the temple were placed 
on the rock that could never be shaken ; the walls were raised, and the majestic plan of the mighty 
edifice might be traced by angelic or prophetic eyes. While the first sentence of the Collect 
carri' - - - ' to the time when this grand event took place, so does the next unite our hearts, 
witli * - "^vere principally concerned in. the occurrence. Nor do we stop here; the language 
of the peiiU' t iir-Les us to aspire after the joy and the permanent comfort which are the proper 
gifts of the H'-ily Ghost. The conclusion of the prayer, though common to many others, ought in 
tliia instance to impros; us witlj peculiar earnestness. It is through Jesus Christ, and Him alone, 
that we enjoy the iiiy.^t<j]i-u^ ]»rivilege of being made recipients of the divine Spuit. Without 
redemption there could have been no regL-neration, or sanctification. 

224 



WHIT-SUNDAY. 



Fur the Epistle. Acts ii. 1. 

HEX the day of Pentecost was fully 
come, they were all with one accord 
in one place. And suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven, as of a 
rushing mighty wind, and it filled 
all the house where they were sittmg. 
And there appeared unto them cloven 
tongues, like as of fire, and it sat 
upon each of them : and they were all filled mth the Holy 
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the 
Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dweUing at 
Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under 
heaven. Xow when this was noised abroad, the multitude 
came together, and were confounded, because that every 
man heard them speak in his own language. And they 
were all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, 
Behold, are not aU these which speak Galileans? And 
how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we 
were born ? Parthians, 'and Medes, and Elamites, and the 
dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Jud^a, and Cappadocia, 
in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, m Egypt, 
and in the parts of Libya about Gyrene, and strangers of 
Eome, Jews, and Proselytes, Gretes, and Ai'abians, we do 
hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of 
God. 

The Epistle. — Pentecost was one of tlie tkree great festivals especially appointed to be observed 
l.y the Mosaic law. The word Pentecost means fifty ; and tbe feast of weeks was so called be- 
cause it took place jnst fifty days, or seven weeks, after the celebration of the Passover. It deserves 
observation, that the most im portant circumstances connected with the rise of Christianity occurred 
at periods when they might be best examined. Our Lord appeared in Jerusalem, and wrought 
His miracles there, when its streets were crowded with busy inquisitive strangers, and the Temple 
vrith dt-vout and zealous worshippers. By divine appointment, He suffered at the Passover, and 
His resurTL-ction took place before the multitudes dispersed. The first and mightiest evidence of 
His ascent to glory was, in the same manner, afforded at a time when its value might best be tried. 
People from every province, and from strange lands, " Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and 
the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judfea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and 
Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Eome, Jews and 
Proselytes, Cretes and Arabians," — were then assembled, and, united in one vast congregation, 
beheld the consecration of Christ's Church and people. It is easy to conceive that, assured of 
success, the possessor of infinite power might eall together a numerous assembly to witness the 

225 ^ 2a 




WHIT-SUNDAY. 



TJie Gospel. St. Joliii xiv. 15. 

ESUS said unto his disciples, If ye 
love me, keep my commandments. 
And 1 will pray the Father, and he 
shall give you another Comforter, 
that he may abide with you for ever ; 
even the Spirit of truth, whom the 
world cannot receive, because it seeth 
him not, neither Imoweth him : but 
ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in 
you. I will not leave you comfortless ; I will come to 
you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more ; 
hwt ye see me : because I live, ye shall live also. At that 
day ye shall know, that I am in my Father, and ye in me, 
and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and 
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth 
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and 
will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, (not 
Iscariot,) Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself 
unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and 
said unto him. If a man love me, he will keep my w^ords, 
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, 
and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not 
keepeth not my sayings : and the word which ye hear is 
not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things 
have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But 
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father 
will send in my Name, he shall teach you all things, and 

operations of his word ; but it is inconsistent with all that we know to suppose that a deceiver 
would choose a season for his imposture in which his pretensions might be most readily confuted. 
Incidental and striking evidence is, therefore, afforded by the publicity of the periods at which the 
Gospel was more fully presented to mankind. The term Pentecost continued to be applied to this 
feast for some time ai'ter the days of the Apostles ; but White or Whit-Sunday at length supplied 
its place,— an appellation used to signify the appearance presented by the white-clothed candidates 
for baptism on this day, or, as some of the fathers suppose, the bright shining of that liglit which 
now, by the Spirit, was shed upon the Church. The most ancient writers speak of this feast as 
having been established in the primitive, and, as most believe, in the apostolic times. It is not, 
indeed, to be imagined that a day so remarkable as that of the first descent of the Holy Ghost 
could cease to be commemorated by those who were the principal recipients of its power. 
226 




AYHIT-SUNDAY. 



bring all things to youi' remembrance, whatsoever I have 
said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let 
not yoin- heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye 
have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come 
again unto you, If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because 
I said, I go unto the Father : for my Father is greater 
than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, 
that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Here- 
after I will not talk much with you : for the prince of this 
world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the 
world may know that I love the Father ; and as the Father 
gave me commandment, even so I do. 

The Gospel.— It is the noble privilege of Christians to be called to the contemplation of the 
highest truths than can employ the understanding of rational beings. The natui'e of God— the pos- 
sibility of a union between Deity and humanity— the methods by ^vhich divine anger may be ap- 
peased, and God's favour permanently conciliated — these are the themes vrhich exercise the Chils- 
tian's mind, and in the treatment of vrhich he finds his he&t solace in misfortune, and his highest 
enjoyment in times of peace and prosperity. The article of our faith vrhich teaches us to acknow- 
ledge the Holy Ghost as a Comforter and Sanctifier is not less essential to the sclieme of salva- 
tion than that by which we know and own a Eedeemer. The harmony and intimate connexion 
between these two fundamental principles of the Gospel are clearly pointed out in the discourses of 
our Lord and his Apostles. By the Holy Spmt believers are made new creatures, and their secmity 
as a redeemed people is established by the seal of their sanctificatiou, Christ strengthened the 
minds of His followers by the promise of the Spirit, because He knew that the fulfilment of that 
promise would be sutficient for all the purposes lx)th of a human and a divine existence. The 
Holy Spirit having been a witness to Christ becomes also a witness in our behalf. Originally He 
was a witness against mankind, " reproving the world of sin but sought through the Mediator, 
" He beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." A universal Teacher of 
truth, and the Source of unchanging peace, this heavenly witness to the love of Christ, and to our 
salvation, may rightly demand of every intelligent creature the profoundest liomage of thankful 
obedience. To Him we are indebted not only for our original regeneration, but for our daily 
renewal ; — the fonner, life recovered ; the latter, life replenished. To him we owe the revelations 
of Scripture, and the light whereby alone they can be understood ;— to Him we owe our brother- 
hood with the honom-able of the earth, and the glorified in heaven ; and whatever there may be 
in our hearts which breathes of immortality, or in our hopes that has the stamp of truth and 
consistency, from Him it has its origin ; — and without Him, the whole comprehensive circle of our 
powers and faculties would present but sadness and confusion ! He alone can make us at peace 
with heaven ;— and to him we must equally look if we would be at peace with ourselves. The 
prince of this world is now the enemy of the Holy Ghost, as he was originally opposed openly and 
personally to Christ. Ever on the watch to betray and destroy, we must guard ourselves against 
his approach by allowing the blessed Spirit to take complete possession of om- hearts. With Him 
for our shields we shall be inspired with that happy sense of security which will diffuse a gladden- 
ing peace thi-ough our souls, and enable us to say, in the hour of sorrow or temptation, " The 
prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." No state of mind can be so happy as that 
in which the power of darkness and of the world is felt to be subdued to the influences of divine 
gTace. The deep serenity which belongs to such a condition leaves both the eye and the ear 
open to perceive all that is noblest in the teachings of truth, and all that is most benign in the 
promises of God. 



227 



Monday in Whitsun W eek. 




The 
Collect. 

OD, who 
as at this 
time didst 
teach the 
hearts of 
thy faith- 
j^^^M peo- 
ple, by 

the sending to them the hght 
ot thy Holy Spirit ; Grant us 
by the same Spirit to have a 
right judgement in all things, 
and evermore to rejoice in his 
holy comfort ; through the 
merits of Christ Jesus our 
Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity 
of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen, 

The Collect. — Tlie Monday and Tuesday of Whitsun-week are observed as a continuation of 
tlie Festival, but tlie three following days are set apart for fasting, this being one of the Ember- 
weeks, and therefore calling for the earnest prayers of the church in favour of those about to be 
admitted to its ministry. The proper preface for the Communion Service is appointed for the 
whole of the week, and expresses in powerful and beautiful language the faith of the believer in 
the divine energy of the blessed Spirit. Happy are they who commemorate the festival with a 
trae feeling of the change which the Holy Spirit is appointed to work ; who experimentally know 
that He is a sanctifier, — and are willing, for the joy which He gives, to resign whatever is con- 
trary to the will or law of God. 

The Epistle. — The narrative contained in this passage of the Acts affords a noble view of the 
nature of the Gospel, and of the part which the Holy Spirit performs in its administration. It 
was for mankind at large that Christ died. The law which He has given is the universal law of 
love ; and, endowed with the attributes of an omnipotent and eternal Spirit, the Holy Ghost is the 
administrator of this mighty system, bounded by none of the restrictions of infirmity or ignorance, 
or selfishness, but free as the light of heaven, in its original purity, to bear the knowledge, and 
give the power, of salvation to the remotest limits of the universe. The distinctions which the 
Almighty Father has either by religious or providential dispensations made between different por- 
tions of mankind, have only been temporary, and in every instance have regarded the general 
benefit of the race, rather than the private good of the individual. This is proved in the most 
signal manner by the fate of the old Jewish dispensation. A nation was raised under the broad 
shield of the law against which the might of the world proved powerless. It boasted of its 
grandeur, independence, and final prospects; but it existed only for the good of the world at 
large ; and in the fulness of time the Universal Father broke down the barriers which had, for a 

228 



MONDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK. 




For the Epistle. Acts x. 34. 

HEN Peter opened his mouth, and 
said, Of a truth I perceive that God 
is no respecter of persons ; but in 
every nation he that feareth him, 
and Avorketh righteousness, is ac- 
cepted with him. The Word which 
God sent unto the children of Israel, 
preaching peace by Jesus Christ ; 
(he is Lord of all ;) that Word, I say, ye know, which 
was published throughout all Jud^a, and began from 
Galilee, after the baptism which John preached ; how 
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth A^ith the Holy Ghost, 
and with power ; who went about doing good, and healing 
all that were oppressed of the devil : for God was with 
him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, 
both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem ; whom 
they slew, and hanged on a tree : Him God raised up the 
third day, and shewed him openly ; not to all the people, 
but unto witnesses chosen before of God ; even to us who 
did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 
And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to 
testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the 
Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets 
witness, that through his Name whosoever beheveth in 
him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet 
spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which 
heard the word. And they of the circumcision, which 
beheved, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, 
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift 
of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with 

season, restrained the flowing of the streams of light and grace. This did not take place till the 
world had been redeemed, and a foimtain opened for the cleansing of the nations. The blood of 
Christ was that fountain. His humanity, universal in its representative character, embraced 
every individual of the vast family ; and His atonement was an atonement for mankind. This 
or that nation was not to claim an exclusive right to the blessing : it was for all, glorious and 
free m its diffusiveness as the light of the sun. But wherever Christ has been, there also the 
Spirit may be looked for ; and thus the belief of Cornelius, the first-fruits of Gentile conversion. 
IS immediately followed by the gift of the Holy Ghost 

229 



MONDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK. 



tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can 
any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, 
which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And 
he commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the 
Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. 




The Gosjjel. St. John iii. 16. 

OD so loved the world, that he gave 
his only-begotten Son, that whoso- 
ever believeth in him should not 
perish but have everlasting life. For 
God sent not his Son into the world 
to condemn the world, but that the 
world through him might be saved. 
He that believeth on him is not 
condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned 
already ; because he hath not believed in the Name of 
the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condem- 
nation, that light is come into the world, and men loved 
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither 
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 
But he that doeth truth cometh to the hght, that his deeds 
may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 

The Gospel —The love of God is a theme so precious to every created being, that the highest 
archangel, and the meanest of sentient things, have, according to the capacity of their nature, an 
equal interest in its elucidation. But if love be manifested in the direct gift of good, in creation 
and its continued accompaniments, it is exercised in a far higher degree when employed to recover 
that which has wasted and despised its beneficence. The existence of a world in peace and 
blessedness would be a glorious demonstration of heavenly mercy. But let the history of this 
world be unfolded,— let it be seen that it had shot down tlie deep gulfs of darkness, and had thence 
been recovered by the free and most unmerited compassion of the Creator ; then every spot that 
is verdant upon its surface will appear more lovely to the eye of gratitude,— every ray of simple 
light will be as a beam of glory,— and the sounds of life and activity as a concert of sweetest music. 
God might have sent His Son to condemn the world, and leave it to tlie dark fate which it had 
tempted ; but He sent Him to save it, and its recovery from sin is a greater miracle tlian its original 
derivation from the bosom of night and chaos. Nothingness is omnipotent against aught but 
Omnipotence ; but sin presents a resistance to the working of Almighty power and love, involving 
difficulties far more insurmountable to mercy than those presented by nothiagness to creation. 
That the stupendous mystery of redeeming love should make no impression on the hearts of tlie 
majority of rnaukiiid is the most melancholy of all truths. It is as if they desired to remain buried 
in tlie whurlpools of chaos ; or were exclaiming, when God says " Let there be light," No ! Creator, 
let not the light be ! 

230 



Tuesday in Whitsim Week. 




The Collect. 

OD, who as at this tmie didst teach 
the hearts of thy faithful people, by 
the sending to them the light of thy 
Holy Sphit ; Grant us by the same 
Spirit to have a right judgement in 
all things, and evermore to rejoice 
in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ 
Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, 
ilfl! in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world with- 
out end. Amen. 



The Collect.— The repetition of the Collect mil not weary spiritual minds. Thoughts and 
words become the more and -more valuable in proportion as they become more familiar, if they 
possess a real and intrinsic worth. The prayer of penitence, " Lord, be merciful to me a sinner," 
increases in meaning and propriety with the deepening of our sorrow for sin. The prayer of faith, 
"Increase our faith;" "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief," becomes more forcible as our 
desire to know God acquires new strength in our souls. And so the prayer of thanksgiving, " I 
will praise thee, O Lord," as the heart expands itself more readily to the softening influences of 
love and gratitude. May we, through the Holy Ghost, be united with Chrisfs faithful people ;— 
may we, through the same Spirit, have a right judgment in all things ; and, rejoicing in His holy 
comfort, reach by His guidance the mansions of blessedness. How thankful, then, shall we be 
that this prayer has often ascended from oui' hearts to the thi-one of grace ! 

231 



TUESDAY IN AVHITSUN-WEEK. 



For the Epistle, Acts viii. 14. 

HEN the Apostles, which were at 
Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had 
received the word of God, they sent 
unto them Peter and John ; who, 
when they were come down, prayed 
for them, that they might receive the 
Holy Ghost : (for as yet he was fallen 
upon none of them ; only they were 
baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid 
they their hands on them, and they received the Holy 
Ghost. 




The Gospel. St. John x. 1. 

ERILY, verily I say unto you. He 
that entereth not by the door into 
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some 
other way, the same is a thief and a 
robber. But he that entereth in by 
the door is the shepherd of the sheep : 
to him the porter openeth ; and the 
sheep hear his voice, and he calleth 
his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And 
when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before 
them, and the sheep follow him ; for they know his voice. 




The Epistle. — As the Apostles had awaited at Jerusalem the fulfilment of Christ's promise 
respecting the gift of the Holy Ghost, so they continued there till events should occur which might 
determine their future course. It was from Jerusalem that the word was to go forth. Sion was 
still to be " the joy of the whole earth/' and the wells of salvation, opened amid her rocky heights, 
were to pour forth streams of living water to wash the desert plains beneath. Christ, exalted to His 
throne at the right hand of His Father, had not forgotten Samaria, — poor, bewildered, and despised 
Samaria ! There were some there who already called upon His name, and who had, probably, 
learned the tidings of His resurrection and ascension with feelings scarcely less joyous and devout 
than those which filled the hearts of His Apostles themselves. The two most distinguished of the 
sacred messengers were sent. Both of them especially witnesses of the resurrection, and each 
inspired with a peculiar reverence for Christ, and knowledge of His character. The object of their 
mission was, it appears, not so much to teach as to pray. Others might have communicated in- 
formation respecting the doctrines of the Gospel but it was for Apostles to seek, and bring down 
upon the people, the mighty influences of the converting Spirit. Their prayer was heard accord- 
ing to the promise of Christ. They had agreed to ask for the illumination of those to whom they 
were sent, and their entreaties procured the blessing. 

232 



TUESDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK. 



And a stranger will tliey not follow ; but will flee from 
him ; for they know not the voice of strangers. This 
parable spake Jesus unto them : but they understood not 
what things they were which he spake unto them. Then 
said Jesus unto them again ; Verily, verily I say unto you, 
1 am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before 
me are thieves and robbers ; but the sheep did not hear 
them. I am the door ; by me if any man enter in, he 
shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 
The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to 
destroy : I am come that they might have life, and that 
they might have it more abundantly. 

The Gospel. — It is always of great importance to us to determine rightly the pretensions of 
those who offer to become our friends and guides. " Try the spirits, whether they be of God, for 
many false prophets are gone out into the world." This precept is valuable under every circum- 
stance ; and mankind would have saved themselves from innumerable calamities, and avoided a 
host of errors equally ruinous and degrading, had they adopted it as their rule of inquiry. But if 
this be true in respect to our general condition and pursuits, it is of still greater importance in 
whatever concerns the formation of a religious belief. Here a wrong guide involves the mind and 
heart in inextricable difficulties. The patli of inquiry, strange and intricate at first, soon becomes 
a perfect labyrinth, every turn of which plunges the unhappy spii-it into more fatal obscurity. Most 
men have found themselves involved in a labyrinth of this kind before they are aware of then- 
danger. They have allowed then- passions or their pride to lead them on. Or they have listened 
to the world, — or taken its teachers for theii- guides, — or have found, perhaps, in the concourse of 
pretenders to sacred knowledge, some bold and confident mind whose daring energy has won tliem 
to acknowledge subjection to its will. Should such be the case, how consolatory is it to know that, 
if they desire to recover the right path, Christ stands ready to assist them ; tliat as He is " the 
way, the truth, and the life," so is He ever willing to save the erring, and by the power which He 
possesses, admit them to the presence of His Father. His people know His voice. They cannot 
be deceived by the pretensions of others, however subtly set forth, or through whatever channels 
made known. Let those who have not yet accepted his ofl'ers of grace compare those offers, and 
the foundation on which they rest, with the corresponding promises of other guides. Let them 
compare their several characters, and weigh, without prejudice, the nature of the appeal made in 
each instance to the various principles of their being. They will then see that Jesus alone can 
so teach and guide that His people " may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." 
It is the fate of the worldly to be continually exposed to the machinations of cruelty and deceit. 
Imagining themselves wise, they become the dupes of then- gross and obstinate folly. No form of 
malice is unknown in the world ; and falsehood has never been without some stratagem, sufficiently 
well contrived to Im-e thousands into ruin. Under the name of philosophy or religion, bold im- 
posture, griping avarice, and fierce ambition, have, singly or collectively, preyed upon mankind in 
almost every age of the world. Our Lord's denunciation of the wickedness of those who, before 
His time, had pretended to come as the saviours or benefactors of their race, might be applied 
with equal force to many who have since tauglit in His name. But in neither instance have His 
sheep followed the call of the false shepherds ; while the world, ever eager after novelty, and ready 
for the snare, has plunged itself into sorrows which it has required centuries to heal. The sim- 
plicity of the Christian rule is the safety of Christians. Christ speaks to them plainly of the love 
of God, — of the necessity of personal holiness, and places the hope of happiness on this foundation 
alone. No other teacher ever taught such a doctrine : and while the world runs a thousand ways 
to hear the various pretenders to Vv'isdom, Christ's people move not till they hear His call to 
repentance, or His promises of mercy. 

233 ^ 2 H 



TRINITY-SUNDAY, 







The Collect. 

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
who hast given unto us thy servants 
grace by the confession of a true 
faith to acknowledge the glory ot 
:^^r the eternal Trinity, and in the powder 
of the Divine Majesty to worship 
the Unity ; We beseech thee, that thou wouldest keep 
us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from 
all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world 
without end. Amen, 



The Collect.— This festival was not observed till a late period, and was only generally esta- 
blished at the beginning of the fom-teenth century. But it is a wise arrangement of the Church, 
that after its members have been led to contemplate the most important events in the history of 
their Eedeemer, and have joined in the celebration of the first great outpouring of the Spirit of truth, 
they should proceed to the especial consideration of that highest of revealed mysteries, the union 
of three persons in the Godhead, or the absolute oneness of the essence of Deity, with a threefold 
personality. It is the first principle of a religion which teaches us to lament our natural ignorance and 
depravity, to convince us also of our inability to receive such revelations without the aid of heavenly 
grace. If, therefore, we can join the church in the confession of a true faith, it is our duty to 
acknowledge the source of that faith, and our interest to seek with earnest zeal for frnther supplies 
of grace, tlmt we in;iy net ce;ise to possess the inestimable gift of a pure and saving knowledge of 
the tintli. ti i- to 111 <,!,.-( r\( 1 1 tliat this Collect does not end in the usual manner : all the three 
persons of the Atlej uhle Timiiy Ijcing addressed in the simple unity of the Godhead. 



TPJNITY-SUNDAY. 



For the Ejjistle. Eev, 



1. 



FTEE this I loolvecl, and behold, a 
door was opened in heaven : and the 
first voice which I heard was as it 
were of a tnimpet talldng with me ; 
which said, Come np hither, and I 
will shew thee thino;s which must be 
hereafter. And immediately I was 
in the Spirit ; and behold, a throne 
was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne : and he 
that sat was to look upon hke a jasper and a sardme 
stone : and there was a rainbow round about the throne. 




in sio'ht like unto an emerald. And 



roun 



d about the 



throne were four and twenty seats ; and upon the seats I 
saw fom' and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white 
raiment ; and they had on their heads crowns of gold : 
and out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thnnder- 
ings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire 
bummg before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of 
God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like 
unto crystal : and in the midst of the throne, and round 
about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and 
behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the 
second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face 



as a man, and the fomth beast was hke 



a flvino; 



eaole. 



The Epistle. — Minds rightly ordered approach the contemplation of divine mysteries vrith 
mingled delight and awe; — with delight, because it is the glory of elevated sonls to he admitted 
to the contemplation with awe, because the pui-est angels veil their face wiien near the throne of 
G-od, — in whom centre, and in whom, when He is known, are revealed all mysteries. Our rehgion 
is founded on the cloctiine of the Trmity, wliich we find interwoven with every branch of the 
fully-developed system. The God whom we serve is not merely the God of nature : He is revealed 
as acting and decreeing in relation to plans which extend far beyond the present and visible state 
of things. In the revealed tlireefoLl personahty of the Godhead, we discover the explanation of 
many wnderful circumstances that could never be understood from the simple knowledge of its 
essential unity. The designs of God are decrees, proceeding from the same unchangeable and 
eternal wisdom ; but in the execution of tliese decrees a threefold mode of operation is manifest, 
which, though in eacli instance indicating the presence of Deity, manifests also a difference of 
personality, that is, the energy is one, but the persons acting are three. It is not till the personality 
of God is known and contemplated, that we see the importance of the doctrine of the Trinity. An 
impersonal God is a mere abstraction ; but admit His personality, and the doctrine of the Trinity 
seems necessarily to follow. We mav account for the characters impressed on the system of 

235 



TEINITY-SUNDAY. 



And the four beasts had each of them six wmgs about 
him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest 
not day and night, saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God 
Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when 
those beasts give glory, and honour, and thanks, to him 
that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the 
four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on 
the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, 
and cast their crowns before the throne, saying. Thou art 
worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power ; 
for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they 
are and were created. 

The Gospel. St. John iii. 1. 

HERE was a man of the Pharisees, 
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the 
Jews : the same came to Jesus by 
night, and said unto him. Rabbi, we 
know that thou art a teacher come 
from God : for no man can do these 
miracles that thou cloest, except God 
be with him. Jesus answered and said 
unto him. Verily, verily I say unto thee. Except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nico- 
demus saith unto him. How can a man be born wdien he 
is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's 
womb, and be born ? Jesus answered. Verily, verily I say 
unto thee. Except a man be born of water, and of the 
Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That 
which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is 
hovn of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto 

nature wlion we only recognise as its ruler a notional and impersonal Deity. But tlie system of 
o-race requires for its explanation that tlireefold personality so sublimely exhibited in the solemn 
visions rif the Apocalypse. There wo l^ehold the glorified Son clothed in the attributes of eternity, 
— and til ere the Comforter, designated by the mystic title of perfection, "the Seven Spirits of 
God;" while in the Unily of tlic one Lord God Almig-ht}^ they receive the homage of the Church 
and of universal nature. 

236 




TRINITY-SUNDAY. 



thee, Ye must be bora again. The wind bloweth where it 
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth ; so is every 
one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and 
said unto him. How can these things be ? Jesus answered 
and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest 
not these things ? Verily, verily I say unto thee. We speak 
that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye 
receive not our witness. If 1 have told you earthly things, 
and ye believe not ; how shall ye beheve, if I tell you of 
heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to 
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the 
Son of man, who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up: that whosoever beheveth in him should not 
perish, but have eternal life. 

The Gospel.— There are certain introductory principles in the science of heavenly truth; and 
there are the grand and comprehensive doctrines which support the whole mystery of godliness. 
If the former be not received and understood, much less can the latter. Jesus describes the one 
under the name of earthly things, wliereby he means that they are subjects which come witliin 
the range of common observation, or belong to the elemental knowledge of religion ;— tMngs 
which may be rendered familiar by comparison with objects seen and understood ;— or which by 
their simplicity and contracted influence are not to be long dwelt upon : while the higher doc- 
trines which He was soon about to teach had a close and immediate connexion with eternity. 
The doctrine of baptism and spiritual regeneration ought not to liave surprised a master in Israel, 
If he had rightly employed the advantages which eYery Israelite possessed, he would have seen 
in the typical washings prescribed by his own religion the necessity of a spiritual baptism. The 
proselyte had to be cleansed thereb}-, and when admitted into the family of God's people, was re- 
garded as a new man. Eaising his thoughts but a little from the old religion of signs and types 
to that spoken of by the prophets, he might have understood that as in this all was to be real and 
substantial, yet spiritual, so the change to be wrought in those receiving it was to be a renova- 
tion, vital and entire. The religion of Christ is received by the world at large rather according 
to the teaching of its own favourites than as it is set forth either by the Gospel or the Churcli of 
God. We might almost imagine, from the manner in which it is sometimes spoken of,— from the 
authoritative tone with which doctrines are rejected or modified, that there were no such fixed 
standard of faith as Scripture, and no such interpreter as the blessed Spirit. Cliristianity as pro- 
fessed by the world is a religion without mystery ;— a system compoimded of precepts and general 
promises, both the one and the other wanting the foundation on which alone they can be reason- 
ably established. It is presented altogether under an earthly aspect ;— as a system appreciable 
by eai-thly understandings, and capable of being easily supported by earthly arguments and sanc- 
tions. But the world does not in reality, and with good faith, accept the system with which it 
has thus ventured to interfere, and so greatly modify in order to suit it to its wishes and appre- 
hensions. It leaves itself at liberty to reject, for the sake of expediency, both the doctrines and 
the precepts which it has outwardly acknowledged. For the proof of this, witness its practices, 
and compare them with the admitted commands of Christ. Listen to its ordinary language, and 
then turn even to the summaries of doctrine which it consents to receive as containing coiTect 
exhibitions of the Christian system. No further proof will be wanted to demonstrate its folly and 
its inconsistency. 

237 



The First Sunday after Trinity. 




The Collect. 

GOD, the strength of all them that 
put their trust m thee, mercifully 
accept our prayers ; and because 
through the weakness of our mortal 
nature we can do no good thing 
- — - without thee, grant us the help of 

;^ thy grace, that in keeping of thy commandments we 
- may please thee, both in will and deed ; through Jesus 
' Christ our Lord. Ameii. 



The Collect. — We have passed, step by step, aloug the pathway of evangelical history ; and 
are now brought, as it were, to expatiate in the wider fields of spuitual doctrine. This and the 
other Collects for the Sundays after Trinity are taken from the Sacrarnentary of Gregory. The 
present prayer acknowledges, by an act of faith, the power and the mercy of God, and the utter 
helplessnes.s of unaided mortality. His grace is souglit because no good thing is possible to man 
without it ; and in the ti-ue spirit of Christian holiness, the power which it bestows is desired in 
order that we may be enabled to keep God's commandments, and, in the ways of holiness, find 
peace and joy. 

' 238 



THE FIEST SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. 1 St. John iv. 7. 

ELOVED5 let us love one another : 
for love is of God, and every one 
that loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God. He that loveth not 
knoweth not God ; for God is love. 
In this was manifested the love of 
God towards us, because that God 
sent his only-begotton Son into the 
world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, 
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his 
Son to be the propitiation for oiu' sins. Beloved, if God 
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man 
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God 
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby 
know we that we dwell in him, and he in us ; because he 
hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen, and do 
testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of 
the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son 
of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we 
have kno^Yn and believed the love that God hath to us. 
God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, 
and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we 
may have boldness in the day of judgement ; because as 
he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love ; 

The Epistle. —The perfect system of the Gospel proposed to, and accepted by, the Christian, 
it becomes his duty to inqnhe into the great characteristics of the rehgion, as intended to pro- 
duce the most noble effects on the state of mankind at large. " Love is the fulfilling of the 
law," is the subhmest statem.ent that ever fell from the hps of a teacher. Neither poet nor phi- 
losopher had ventured thus simply and comprehensively to declare the truth which, of all others, 
is most essential to the happiness of the world. St, John, who rejoiced in the privilege of being- 
appointed to unfold the higher mysteries of the Gospel, insists with a never-tiring energy on this 
gi-andest of moral truths. In his record of Christ's words, he had made known the necessity of the 
new birth — of a regeneration which should leave nothing in the \vill of man hostile to the purposes 
of God. Here, speaking by the Holy Ghost, he shows what we are to look for in those who have 
been born of God, or in whom " His love is perfected." God Himself, he tells us, is love ; and 
the reality of our regeneration must be proved by the manifest participation of our souls in that 
prime attribute of the Father. By this new quality of om- nature, we become capable of knowing 
and giorif}T.ng Him ; and by the same diviue principle it must be that we are rendered tender, 
useful, and compassionate to our fellow-men. One heavenly Spirit regenerates and endows us with 
life, and fills the channels of our immortality with the copious streams of an mifailing love ! 

239 




THE FIEST SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 

but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath 
torment: He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 
We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I 
love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that 
loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he 
love God, whom he hath not seen ? And this command- 
ment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his 
brother also. 

The Gospel, St. Luke xvi. 19. 

HERE was a certain rich man, 
wdiich was clothed in purple and 
fine linen, and fared sumptuously 
every day. And there was a certain 
beggar named Lazarus, which w^as 
laid at his gate full of sores, and 
desiring to be fed with the crumbs 
which fell fi'om the rich man's table : 
moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it 
came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by 
the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also 
died, and was buried : and in hell he lifted up his eyes, 
being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and 
Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said. Father 
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he 
may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; 
for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said. 
Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy 
good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now 
he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides 
all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed : 
so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot ; 
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou 
wouldest send him to my father's house : for I have five 
brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also 
240 




THE FIEST SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, 
They have Moses and the prophets ; let them hear them. 
And he said, Nay, father Abraham ; but if one went unto 
them fl'om the dead, they will repent. And he said unto 
him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither 
Avill they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 

The Gospel. — A lesson equally solemn and pathetic is afforded in this Gospel. It was not the 
want of eyidence which prevented the rich man in the parable from belie^-ing God, or obeying His 
call to repentance. Equally certain is it that the poor afflicted beggar possessed no superior 
means of studying the truth, or examining the foundations upon which it rested. Pride, folly, and 
licentiousness, will resist any degree of eyidence ; — the evidence of the senses as readily as the 
demonstrations of reason. A pure and simple mind, on the other hand, presenting no obstacle to 
the flowing in of light, and having an instinctive love for that which is right and true, perceives 
the value of every degree of evidence ; and instead of waiting to acknowledge a truth till it has 
been proved by every possible kind of argument, it embraces it with delight as soon as it is pre- 
sented to the understanding. The desire of the rich man was inconsistent with his own conduct. 
Moses and the prophets had failed to affect his heart, not because he disbelieved them, but becau.se , 
he was unwilling to cease from his sensual mode of life. No accumulation of proof could have 
brought religion to a soul which rejected it not for want of proof, but from motives which regarded 
only the passions and inclinations of a gross spirit. The brothers of the miserable culprit were 
pursuing the same course of pride and folly, and already verged towards the gulf down which he 
himself had been plunged. It was not a new proof of the life after death which would have 
induced them to become wise and holy, but the proper application of the grace which God was 
already willing to bestow. This is established both by the natm'e of things and by actual ex- 
perience. On those who are only waiting for more evidence, that which they have received at the 
beginning of the inquiry will surely exercise some influence : but the proud and thoughtless 
sensualist stands altogether opposed to religious truth ; and that degree of proof which is granted 
being utterly despised, no complaint can justly be made that a larger quantity of evidence is not 
granted them to despise, The futility of the hope, that by multiplying the proofs of a truth unholy 
and obstinate minds may be convinced, was sufiiciently manifested in the course of our Saviour's 
ministry. Those very miracles which we now imagine w^ould convert the most determined un- 
believers were performed in the sight of multitudes, from among which not one in a hundred ap- 
pears to have been brought to Christ. The same species of fact is witnessed in our own days. 
Many men are mentally witnesses to the reality of our Lord's miracles, — that is, see and acknow- 
ledge theca by the assent of the understanding ; but they remain as far from the kingdom of 
heaven as if they had never heard that Christ rose from the dead. The world has been visited 
by a Kedeemer, and the price of its salvation paid to the uttermost farthing. But it refuses to 
consider its former lost condition, or its present means of good. Stdl enchained by sensuality, its 
children seek only the gratification of their passions ; and the wealth which they possess is mainly 
employed in pampering the selfishness which rises in rebellion against both humanity and God, 
For a time they triumph. The full hand of nature is allowed to supply them, so that they shall 
know no want ; and at the liberal feast they forget that, existing not with them, it may yet be 
oppressing others of their race. God and man are both lost sight of, but the hour of retribution 
comes. The lights are put out,— the gay assembly has vanished, — the foundations of the gilded 
palace tremble, — and in a moment its proud and thoughtless lord finds himself transported to the 
fearful realms of unutterable woe. Not thus is it with the poor and humble worshipper of God. 
WilHngly submissive to the severest discipline, if it leads but his soul to heaven, he is contented to 
look forward to futurity with no other assurance of its bringing him consolation than that which 
can be gathered from the word of God. Poverty and sickness serve to expel the rank humours 
which might otherwise infect his soul. He is sunk to the world's eye in the depths of wretched- 
ness ; but the seeds of eternal life have been sown in his heart. He awaits patiently the period of 
emancipation: at length it comes ; and the glad messengers of heaven bear him to his joyous 
resting-place in the mansions of his Father's house. Eeader ! if rich, selfish, and thoughtless, 
tremble ! If poor and righteous, " rejoice and be exceeding glad, for the day of thy redemption 
draweth nigh.'' 

241 . .21 



The Second Sunday after Trinity, 




1 





The Collect. 

LORD, who never failest to help 
and govern them whom thou dost 
brmg up m thy stedfast fear and 
love ; Keep us, we beseech thee, 
under the protection of thy good 
providence, and make us to have a 
perpetual fear and love of thv holv Name ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect.— Were the change ^Yhich the Gospel works productive of no tiiterlor conse- 
quences, it would yet be of infinite value to the human race. To be lioly is a blessing in itself; 
and it would be incomparably better to exist, were it only for a few years, in the free and liglit- 
sorae condition of a Airtuous spirit, than to pass tbe same time under the tyranny of the best 
gratified and most pampered passion. But God leaves not those v\diom He has converted to them- 
selves : He keeps them under His continual guardianship ; and every hour which passes by de- 
posits some new gift of grace in their hearts, and adds to the treasure wliich is laid up for them 
in heaven. 

242 



THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TEINITY. 



The Epistle. 1 St. John iii. 13. 




AEVEL not, my brethren, if the 
world hate you. We know that we 
have passed from death unto hfe, 
because we love the brethren. He 
that loveth not his brother abideth 
in death. Whosoever hateth his bro- 
ther is a murderer : and ve know 
that no murderer hath eternal life 
abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, 
because he laid down his life for us : and we ought to lay 
down our hves for the brethren. But whoso hath this 
world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shut- 
teth up his bowels of compassion from him ; how dwelleth 
the love of God in him ? My little children, let us not 
love in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed, and in truth. 
And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall 
assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn 
us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we con- 
fidence towards God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive 
of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those 
things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his 
commandment. That we should believe on the Name of 
his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us 
commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments 
dwelleth in him, and he in him : and hereby we know that 
he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. 

The Epistle. — Another lesson of profound msdom and holiness from the beloved disciple. No 
attempt was made by Christ, neither is any made by his followers, to conceal from behevers their 
condition in the world. They were taught from the beginning that it hates them ; and theii- state 
is perilous when they imagine that the danger is at an end, and that they have no further need to 
dread its enmity. But convinced that little good ought to be looked for from the world, whence is 
the comfort to be expected, without some portion of which the human heart would sink under the 
burden of its sorrows. It is here, in the very words of the Apostle : — " We have passed from death 
unto life !" And what better consolation can we receive than an assurance, given by the Spirit of 
God, that the shadows of death have already passed away, leaving the bright expanse of heaven un- 
clouded before us ! The proof that such is the case is purely evangelical. It is, in the first place, 
the love of God and of Christ towards us, and then om- love towards them, rising and working with 
noble energy tln-ough all the paths of humanity till it rejoice in the fulness of the heavenly life. 

243 



THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 




The Gospel St. Luke xiv. 16. 

CERTAIN man made a great sup- 
per, and bade many, and sent his 
servant at svipper-time to say to 
them that were bidden, Come, for 
all things are now ready. And they 
all with one consent began to make 
excuse. The first said unto him, I 
have bought a piece of ground, and 
I must needs go and see it ; I pray thee have me excused. 
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, 
and I go to prove them •, I pray thee have me excused. 
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I 
cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord 
these things. Then the master of the house being angry 
said to his servant. Go out quickly into the streets and 
lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the 
maimed, and the halt, and the bhnd. And the servant 
said. Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet 
there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go 
out into the high-ways and hedges, and compel them to 
come in, that my house may be fiUed. For I say unto you,^ 
T'hat none of those men which were bidden shall taste of 
my supper. 



The Gospel— When we have long and carefully contemplated the mystery and the reality of 
salvation, it is a fearful proof of inconsistency if we refuse to accept the means of grace thereby 
supplied. Eveiy part of the Gospel consists of good tidings ; for the warmng to repentance —the 
exhortations to a new and holy life, are but so many instructions to those whom God has invited 
to partake of everlasting glory, and for which they cannot be capable if unprepared by the dis- 
cipline of holiness. When our Lord describes the conduct of those who were invited to the 
marriage supper of the king's son, he depicted, in the first place, the conduct of the Jews, un- 
wilhng to leave the lowest cares of a sensual ambition for the spiritual glories of Messiah's king- 
dom ; and, in the next place, He foreshows what would be the conduct of many professed members 
of His Church in later times. They do not doubt His royalty ; tliey dispute not the right of His 
messengers to summon them. But they have other cares,— other pleasures,— other and more 
esteemed sources of honom- than those which concern, or are to be found in, the kingdom of 
heaven. On comparing the claims of the world with those of Christ, we find that the whole 
strength of the former depends on their immediate address to men's passions and ambition. The 
call of holiness is rejected because the result has to be looked for in some distant scene of existence. 
But let us once calculate the rate at which time passes away, and it will then be seen how little 
reason we have to allow any thing wliich can only be ours in time to compete with that which may 
be ours for eternity ! 

244 



The Third Sunday after Tririity. 





The Collect. 

LORD, Ave beseech thee mercifully 
to hear us ; and grant that we, to 
whom thou hast given an hearty 
deshe to pray, may by thy mighty 
aid be defended and comforted in 
all dangers and adversities ; through 



Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 



The Collect— It is the happiness of Christians to know that theiv desire to pray is an 
evidence of the faith to which all things are possible. The habitual tendency of the heart 
to repose on God in seasons of trial, and to rest on HiDa, at all times, as the great Source 
of good, belongs to the filial character of behef. When necessity and danger press hard upon 
our path, then the cry ascends, " Defend us from the perils which surround us ! comfort us in our 
tribulation !" and the prayer obtains a blessing in every instance in which it is offered with faith, 
through Jesus Christ. Dangers and adversities are encountered every step we set. When the 
world is tranquil, our own hearts supply the perils from which outwardly we seem to have 
escaped. But whatever be the nature of our troubles, the aid which God gives is a sufficient 
defence and comfort. We need no other support in either temporal or spiritual distress ; and 
happy are we when our hearts glow with an earnest desire to be partakers of its consolation. 

245 



THE THIED SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. 1 St. Pet. v. 6. 

LL of you be subject one to another, 
and be clothed with humihty : for 
God resisteth the proud, and giveth 
grace to the humble. Humble your- 
selves therefore under the mighty 
hand of God, that he may exalt you 
in due time; casting all your care 
upon him, for he careth for you. 
Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, 
as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may 
devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that 
the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren 
that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who 
hath called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after 
that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, 
strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion 
for ever and ever. Amen. 

The Gospel, St. Luke xv. 1. 

HEN drew near unto him all the 
Publicans and sinners for to hear 
him. And the Pharisees and Scribes 
murmured, saying, This man re- 
ceiveth sinners, and eateth with 
them. And he spake this ^^^I'^ble 
unto them, saying. What man of 
you having an hundred sheep, if he 
lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in 

The Epistle. — The quiet virtues of the Christian are derived immediately from the view which 
he takes of his rehgion. For that view of the Gospel he is indebted to the Holy Spirit ; but it is 
to him in the place of a mighty and universal argument, embracing reasons and sanctions whicli 
appeal with equal force to his moral and intellectual nature. Mutual kindness and forbearance :— 
the absence of pride and envy ; — a readiness to forego many private claims for the general good, 
— and the willing acknowledgment of the superiority of others, and their right to our respect ; — 
these are the proper characteristics of a Christian society : they belong as qualities to the peculiar 
people of God ; and where they are not, there, we may conclude, the power of the Gospel has never 
246 





THE THIED SUNDAY AFTER TEINiTY. 



the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he 
find it ? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his 
shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he 
calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto 
them, Kejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which 
was lost. I say unto you. That likewise joy shall be in 
heaven oyer one sinner that repenteth, more than over 
ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she 
lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the 
house, and seek diligently till she find it ? And when 
she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neigh- 
bours together, saying. Rejoice with me, for 1 have found 
the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you. 
There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 
one sinner that repenteth. 

been known. But the Apostle suggests a solemn consideration respecting this subject which, ought 
to weigh deeply with those who, looking for salvation through Christ, yet allow pride and thouglit- 
lessness to keep them from the practice of evangelical humility. The mighty hand of God is 
stretched out for our preservation. Ought we not to humble ourselves at the contemplation of this 
interference in our favour ? The devil, as a roaring lion, is awaiting to destroy us. Shall we not 
be cautious and sober-minded, having to resist such an adversary ? Our forerunners in the Gospel 
have suffered many afflictions in the work of salvation. Ought we to expect to complete the same 
vyork without imitating any of their virtues ? But while we are bound to resign ourselves willingly 
to the dispensations of God, and bear with cheerful submissiveness the trials to which He may put 
us, there is this consolation : the afflictions will endure but for a while ; — the glory that is to 
follow will be eternal. It is the joy of the Christian to know that he is being daily prepared 
for this glory by the Holy Spirit ; and that, having been perfected in holiness, he will be admitted 
to the seats where happiness is perfected also. 

The Gospel. — How strange it is that men should ever wish to limit the operations of God's 
mercy, or endeavour to make themselves believe that they are the better off the more exclusively 
their privileges and enjoyments are confined to the circle in wliich they move ! The Pharisees 
and Scribes reproved Jesus for His mercy : our churches and sects still do the same. They may 
have faith, but they have not charity ; and religion suffers, as if its members and sinews were torn 
asunder. The angels in heaven reprove us for this. They take an interest in our fate, and in that 
of the most miserable of our brethren. The Founder of our religion reproves us ; and in every 
thing which He has done for the recovery of a lost world, a judgment is passed upon our want of 
kindness, humility, and charity. Exquisitely tender are the illustrations which He employs to 
defend His desire and His right to save the poorest of sinners. But we must not suppose that 
anything which He says implies the equalizing of a late repentance with long-enduring and true 
perfection in holiness. He appeals but to human feeling as affording an illustration of the charity 
of heaven when it rejoices over the returning penitent more than over those jvho are already safe. 
The joy refers but to the moment of recovery ;— and what circle of loving children would suppose 
that they were failing in love for each other, if they did for the moment let every other feeling be 
lost in the glad congratulations which they heap on a supposed perished, but now recovered, 
brother ? The other comparisons employed by our Lord serve to guard the one alluded to from 
any wrong interpretation ; for though the finding of the lost piece of money, or the strayed sheep, 
gives more joy for the moment than the possession of all the rest, it would manifestly be folly to 
suppose that this feeling is other than temporary. 
247 



The Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 




GOD, the protector of all that trust 
in thee, without whom nothing is 
strong, nothing is holy; Increase 
and multiply upon us thy mercy ; 
that, thou being our ruler and guide, 
we may so pass through things tem- 
finally lose not the things eternal : 
Grant this, heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake 
our Lord. Amm. 



The Collect.— God, as the source of power, is, under the Christian system, the source of good 
and happiness to His creatures. Frail and miserahle in themselves, He replenishes them with in- 
ternal strength ; and hy the ordinances of His providence, and often by special interferences, pro- 
tects them against every enemy and betrayer. But though His mercy is over all His works, it is 
to those only who put their trust in Him that the promise of protection is fully and distinctly m ade, 
In their safety the glory of Christ and His kingdom is concerned. "They shall l3e mine," He 
says, " in the day when I make up my jewels." Without the strength which God gives for this pur- 
pose, the miglitiest power of men and the most splendid of their glories are but as things of nought. 
248 



THE FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. Eom. viii. 18. 

EECKON that the sufferings of this 
present time are not worthy to be 
compared with the glory wiiich shall 
be revealed in us. For the earnest 
expectation of the creature waiteth 
for the manifestation of the sons of 
God. For the creature was made 
subject to vanity, not willingly, but 
by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope : 
because the creature itself also shall be delivered from 
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God. For w^e know that the whole creation 
groaneth, and travaileth in pain together until now. And 
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first- 
fruits of the Spirit, even Ave ourselves groan within our- 
selves, Avaiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of 
our body. 

The Epistle. — It is the prospect of a restoration to primeval happiness and perfection which 
sheds the brightest of the rays that beautify the present state of things. Without this hope the 
Sim woiild lose its splendour in tlie natural, and virtue its energy and cheerful loveliness in the 
moral, world. Blank discontent and weariness would be everywhere visible ; and the race of man 
wanting the impulse which is given by the ingmfted expectation of a higher and nobler condition, 
would stop far short of the efforts which it now makes after enlightenment and wisdom. The 
present is a period of travail. Nature in all its provinces has been made subject to vanity ; that 
word comprehending the power of sin, the power of death, of folly, and wliatever can employ 
itself in perverting the great and good purposes of creation. And this state of things is rendered 
more and more conspicuous by the light of the Gospel. The antagonist of good rages against the 
progress towards recovery ; suffering thence follows to those who stand foremost in the subhme 
struggle for emancipation. But a glory shall in the end be revealed in them whicli will fully 
reward them for all their toils, and Creation in its renovated beauty will lise to salute them as the 
victorious soldiers of its Deliverer. The word " creature " is used with a various extent of significa- 
tion in Scripture. Sometimes, and most commonly, it is employed to signify all created beings in 
contradistinction to the Creator. At others, it means all things inferior to man, and especially the 
inanimate imiverse. In a few cases it is applied to the Gentile, or unsanctified portion of man- 
kind, as separate from the people of God. But these meanings are not in opposition to each 
other : and the word vanity describes the condition to which any being is reduced when rendered 
perisliable, — when divested of the excellence which it originally possessed, — ^when put to purposes 
inferior to its proper destiny, or shut out from the prospects to which it might have aspu-ed. 
Bearing this in view, it will not be difficult for the ingenious inquirer to discover how the lan- 
guage of the Apostle may be applied. He will see that nature in general was made subject to 
vanity by sin; — that all inferior things shared in man's loss of glory and perfection : — that the 
body suffered in correspondence with the soul ; — and that the mass of mankind, considered in 
every relation, became subject to vanity through the condemnation of sin. But it was " not 
willingly " that cither natm-e, or any class of beings, or man in any relation, became subject to 
vanity. It is the essential property of everything to resist change which tends to pain or injury. 

249 ^ 2k 




THE FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 




The Gospel St. Luke vi. 36. 

E ve therefore merciful, as your Fa- 
V ther also is merciful. Judge not, 
X and ye shall not be judged : con- 
demn not, and ye shall not be con- 
V demned: forgive, and ye shall be 
forgiA^en: give, and it shall be given 
J. unto you; good measure, pressed 
down, and shaken together, and 
runnino: ovei', shall men oive into vour bosom. For 
the same measure that ye mete vithal, it shall be mea- 
sured to you again. And he spake a parable unto them. 
Can the bhnd lead the blind ? shall they not both fall 
into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master; 
but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. And 

whv beholdest thou the mote that is in thv brother s eve, 
t/ I, I- 

but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 
Either how canst thou say to thy brother. Brother, let me 
pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself 
beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Thou 
h}^ocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, 
and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that 
is in thv brother's eve. 



The sun unwillingly allows his beams to be clouded ; decay is resisted long and obstinately ; the 
voice of gladness only ceases when checked by stern necessity ; and death, which consimimates 
the work of vanity, is universally regarded as a foe. 3Ian himself, the conscious, reasonmg victim 
of vanity, yields not willingly : whatever his blindness and corruption he wars against the necessity 
of his state. Though bringing in death by sin, he would not die ;— though lovmg corruption, he 
would fain not be himself corruptible ;— though borrowing the veil of darkness to hide his evil 
deeds, he would not be dark in heart and spirit ;— though wishing others— even God — to be blind, 
he would wish to be himself all-seeing. 

The Gospel.— The subtlest morahsts have fallen far short of our Lord in detecting the corrup- 
tioDSof human character, or prescribing rules for then- correction. Pride and self-esteem are fruit- 
ful in error. The judgments which they pass ai-e usually grossly false, and he who would really do 
good, is bound to cultivate humility as well as generosity,; and a uieek and gentle spirit, not less 
than the more active virtues which may prompt him to become a teacher of this land. Self-know- 
ledge is the b: st grade we can have to a knowledge of the world ; btit that is a poor acquaintance 
with ranselves which only brings before us an exaggerated catalogaie of merit-^, the greater part, 
perhaps, factitious, and which leaves out of sight the follies and the meannesses— the pride, volup- 
tuousness, and wrathfulness which, in various proportions, probably form the larger portion of our 
active principles. Mercy, such as tiie Gospel teaches us to cultivate, will, in all cases, present 
a noble barrier to the invasion of tlicse enemies, aud prepare us to judge rightly both of ourselves 
and others. 

250 



The Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 






The Collect. 

RANT, Lord, we beseech thee, 
that the course of this world may be 
so peaceably ordered by thy govern- 
ance, that thy Church may joyfully 
serve thee m all godly quietness; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 



[. I The Collect. — Peace is dear to the Christian by the very principles of liis new nature. 

" He serves the Prince of Peace, and peace in his own heart is the first-fruits of the })]essing 
which he has received from Christ. But lie beholds the world oppressed with strife and 
tumult ; or, if ceasing for a while from warring with its own members, preparing to assail 
the sanctuaries of religion. Peace, therefore, is the sul)ject of his most earnest petitions ; and if 
Christians were more careful than they are to cultivate the virtues which become the profession 
of the Gospel, their prayers for this blessing for themselves and mankind at large would prove the 
most efficient labour they can perform in the service of humanity. The Cliurch, — that is, the true 
and spuitual Chm'ch of Christ, — is the sole minister of peace on earth. It is its peculiar province 
to teach and persuade men to cultivate the grace of charity as the bond of perfectness ; and it is 
in this its especial capacity and office that it otfers up prayer for the peaceable governance of the 
world. The tranquillity of mankind at large, furthered by its supplications, secures its own joy 
and godly quietness, each, by the ordinance of a merciful God, being made to influence the other. 

251 



THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTEE TKINITY. 




The Epistle, 1 St. Pet. iii. 8. 

E ye all of one mind, having com- 
passion one of anotller, love as bre- 
thren, be pitiful, be courteous; not 
rendering evil for evil, or railing for 
railing ; but contrariwise blessing ; 
knowing that ye are thereunto called, 
that ye should inherit a blessing. 
For he that will love life, and see 
good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his 
lips that they speak no guile : let him eschew evil, and 
do good ; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes 
of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open 
unto their prayers : but the face of the Lord is against 
them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if 
ye be followers of that which is good ? But and if ye 
suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye : and be not 
afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify 
the Lord God in your hearts. 



The Gospel. St. Luke v. 1. 

T came to pass, that as the people 
pressed upon him to hear the Word 
of God, he stood by the lake of Gen- 
^ nesareth, and saw two ships standing 
by the lake ; but the fishermen were 
gone out of them, and were washing 
their nets. And he entered into one 
of the ships, which was Simon's, and 

The Epistle.- Strife in the Chnstian Church is one .of the scandals which have done most 
harm to the souls of men. The unity of the Spirit is surely forgotten when controversy, losing 
the characteristics of a humble inquiry after truth, presents all the features of angry disputation 
and rivalship. Kindness, courtesy, and love unfeigned are the ornaments of the family of Christ. 
They who cultivate not these virtues fail in making, good their pretensions to the name of His 
people, or the blessings which belong to His Church. The assumption of a name— the possession 
of titles and dignities— the homage of the world— even the performance of many duties,— nothmg, 
in short, can make up for the want of that mutual compassion, and refraining from recrimination 
which the Apostle urges so pathetically on the professors of the Gospel. 
252 




THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land : 
and he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, 
Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a 
draught. And Simon answering said unto him. Master, 
we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; 
nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. And 
when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude 
of fishes, and their net brake. And they beckoned unto 
their partners which were in the other ship, that they 
should come and help them. And they came, and filled 
both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon 
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying. Depart 
from me, for I am a sinfiil man, Lord. For he was 
astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of 
the fishes which they had taken ; and so was also James, 
and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with 
Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had 
brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed 
him. 

The Gospel. — The words of Clirist had a power in them which belonged to the preaching of 
none who had preceded Him. We read not that the people pressed to hear Isaiah or Malachi. 
The first time, it is probable, that they were ever addressed in the plain and simple words which 
call to repentance because of the wrath to come, was when St. John began to preach on the banks 
of the Jordan. Preaching is an evangelical ordinance. The ceremonial law preached to the 
people in former times ; and in almost every institution in which signs, and pomps and ceremonies 
are much employed, direct preaching is only slightly practised. But whatever was the case with 
the Jews in earlier times, it is little to be doubted but that since the time of Malachi the instruc- 
tions they received were poor and meagre. The law and the prophets, imperfectly understood 
were timidly taught even by the Scribes. When our Lord, therefore, preached to the people 
openly, and with the full authority of a teacher of righteousness, they were astonished, and pressed 
eagerly to hear Him. His intended apostles were among His auditors on this occasion, and the 
power of His words was, for their sake, accompanied with a demonstration of His authority not 
only over the minds of men, but over universal nature. The result proved that He had not exer- 
cised His power in vain. Deejily impressed with the signs of divinity which they beheld, Simon 
Peter and the sons of Zebedee acknowledged the right of Jesus to the service of their lives. No 
vow was made, for a vow was not needed where the whole man was given. We read not how, or 
when Judas joined himself to the band of Apostles ; but this we know, that one grand circum- 
stance was wanting in the completion of his call which characterized that of the holy men whose 
conduct is Iiere described. He followed Christ ; but he did not forsake all ; he probably forsook 
nothing which had before occupied his base and worldly heart. This is a test to which we may 
profitably put not only the more distinguished servants of Christ, but all who profess to believe 
His Gospel. 



253 



The Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 




The Collect. 

GOD, who hast prepared for them 
that love thee such good things as 
pass man's understandmg ; Pom^ into 
our hearts such love toward thee, that 
we, loving thee above all things, may 
obtain thy promises, which exceed all 
that we can desire ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Ameji, 



The Collect. — God has prepared for His people successive grades of felicity, and at every 
ascent they make, some fresh proof is afforded of His infinite compassion. But while reason and 
revelation agree in assuring us of the love of God, we are taught with equal clearness by the 
simplest principles of gratitude, that the profoundest homage of our hearts and minds is due in 
return to Him. Convinced of this, how gladly do His children worship Him ! but sensible of the 
imperfection of their best acknowledgments of His goodness, they never cease to pray that they 
may be enabled by his own Spirit to love Him more and more. When we can love Him, tiie 
supreme and perfect good, above all things, then shall we be fit to enter into the enjoyment of His 
promises. 

254 



THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTEE TKINITY. 



The Epistle. Eom. vi. 3. 

NOW ye not, that so many of us as 
were baptized into Jesus Christ were 
baptized into his death? Therefore 
we are buried with him by baptism 
into death ; that hke as Christ was 
raised up from the dead by the glory 
of the Father, even so we also should 
walk in newness of life. For if we 
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, 
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection : know- 
ing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the 
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should 
not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. 
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall 
also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised 
from the dead dieth no more ; death hath no more domi- 
nion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin 
once ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Lil^e- 
wise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, 
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

The Gospel St. Matth. v, 20. 

ESUS said unto his disciples. Ex- 
cept your righteousness shall exceed 
the righteousness of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter 
into the Kingdom of heaven. Ye 
have heard that it was said by them 
of old time. Thou shalt not kill : and 
whosoever shall kill, shall be in dan- 
ger of the judgement. But I say unto you, that whosoever 

The Epistle. — Disposed as men are to escape from tlie spiritual representations of the Gospel, 
this apostolic exposition of the doctrine of baptism calls for frequent and earnest contemplation. 
By both the sacraments which Christ instituted, He brings His people into communion with Him 
through making them conformable unto Plis death. He suffered fci us, but we, by faith, suffered 

255 





THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



is angry \YitIi his brother without a cause shall be in 
danger of the judgement : and whosoever shall say to his 
brother, Eaca, shall be in danger of the council : but 
whosoever shall say. Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell- 
fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and 
there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against 
thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy 
way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and 
offer thy gift. Agree ^^ith thine adversary quickly, whiles 
thou art in the way with him ; lest at any time the ad- 
versary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver 
thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily 
I say unto thee. Thou shalt by no means come out thence, 
till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. 

in Him, and are partakers of His joy ; because, buried with Him in baptism, He raises us to a 
new existence by the power of His Spirit. In like manner, when the body broken, and the blood 
shed, are partaken of in faith, we realize the crucifixion of sin ; and by showing forth the death of 
Christ till he come, assure to the soul a full participation in its atoning influence. Uying unto sin, 
and living unto God, is the epitome of every Christian's history. It embraces the whole series of 
the events whereby he attains to glory, the mystery of godliness being described therein as applied 
to the regeneration of humanity ; for the Word became incarnate that redemption might be 
accomplished by the dying of one for all, — all in Him dying, and all in Him recovering life. The 
selection from the Epistles now follows the order in which they stand in the New Testament. 

The Gospel. — The pretensions of mankind in general to the praise of righteousness, are effec- 
tually confuted in the first sentence of this Gospel. To the Scribes and Pharisees pertained the 
knowledge of the law ; and they were distinguished, it is admitted, for th.e strictness with which 
they observed its outward requirements. No scandal is attributed to them. They were decent in 
their mode of life, and upheld, by their strictness and austerity, the credit of the nation for religion, 
when the Sadducees and Herodians would probably have ruined its reputation by their infidelity 
and licentious mode of living. But they wanted the root and principle of holiness. The love of 
God possessed not their hearts ; and the righteousness which led them to believe that they were 
better than others, was not the righteousness which could render them acceptable to Him who 
must be served in spirit and in truth. They were wrathful, self-willed, and haughty. Their in- 
terpretation of the law was made to suit the wishes of their own hearts; and while they obeyed it 
outwardly, the movements of their internal being were in direct conti'adiction to its spiritual inten- 
tions. The precepts of our Lord enable us to put our own character to the test. If we can obey 
them readily and joyfully, our righteousness already exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees ; and 
by the continued help of the divine Spirit, it will be our constant delight to compare what is merely 
legal with what is lovely, and of good report, in the eyes of God and of Clirist. The world would 
gain little by the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, while in the holy doctrines of the 
Gospel its best and dearest interests are Secured by the most powerful defences. Law, as the 
offspring of civilization, might protect us fi-om murder, but it cannot defend us effectually against 
the invasions of a cruel and persevering enmity. Christianity, on the other hand, is planned to 
effect this. It binds us and our brethren reciprocally against the commission of aught that is 
injurious, Tlae heart and the tongue are brought under the law as well as the hand. The pre- 
sence of God is not to be sought till the obedience required is duly rendered ; and if the angry 
heart refuses, to be appeased, it is itself placed at the bar of judgment, and made to endure the 
chastisement which its wrathfulncss has provoked. 



256 



The Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 




The Colkd. 

E D of 
all poAver 
and might, 
who art the 
author and 
oiyer of all 
good thmgs; 
Graft m our hearts the love 
of thy Name, increase in ns 
true relioion, nourish us ^\iih. 
all goodness, and of thy great 
mercY keep us in the same ; 
throuoii Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 




The Collect. — This is a truly spiritual and comiDreliensive prayer. It assigns to God the 
attributes which best distinguish His being to the thoughts of men,— almighty power, and ever- 
active benevolence. That we may love His name, — that holiness, with all its truest characteristics, 
may grow in om- hearts, — that He may evermore nourish us with the bread of life and the waters 
of salvation, pouring down upon our souls and our homes the abundance of His blessing, — these 
are petitions which every one would put up did not sin. blind men to their real and most impoii:ant 
interests. In the very notion of a God is implied the possession of unhmited power ; and we have 
but one reason to doubt His willingness to do us good. That reason is furnished by our wimt of 
holiness, faith, and love. Let these occupy our hearts, and we shall ask and receive. Xo tliouglit- 
ftil reader of Scripture can fail of being surprised that the doctrines and morality of Christianity 
should ever have become separated. Into whatever jjortion of the system we look, there is truth 
and there is holiness, — each shedchng its own peculiar light — each speaking with sweet distinct- 
ness of voice to the attentive heart ; but the one never illuminatiog or comforting without the 
other. TheUrim and Thummim on the breast-plate of the Jewish high-piiest were emblematical, 
we are told, of light and perfection : and here was an apt and beautiful tyj)e of the religion of the 
Gospel. Christ Himself, in whom are emboched all the energies of the evangelical system, proved 
in the most perfect and signiticant manner the eternal union of holiness and morality. The in- 
crease of true religion in our hearts, — the nourishment of our whole being with the goodness of 
God, is the noblest exemplification that can be aliurded of the power of divine grace. But in pro- 
portion to the grandeur of these things ought to be our reverence for the Source in wliich they 
commence. True it is we may exist without them : but what is existence when destitute of honour- 
and hope ? TThat is humanity itself without the virtues which are its proper ornaments? And if 
God alone be the Author and Giver of all gouil things, is it not from Him we should seek, in the 
language of such prayers as this, the supply of nottrishnient and strength ? Simple as is the style 
of the Collects, they are fuuudtd on the sublimest views of Ciiristianity ; and the experienced 
believer may generally find in them the elements of his best and most treasured thoughts. 

257 2 L 



THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



The Epistle. Rom. vi. 19. 

V X SPEAK after the manner of men, 
because of the infirmity of your flesh : 
for as ye have yielded your members 
servants to uncleanness, and to ini- 
quity, unto iniquity ; even so now 
yield your members servants to right- 
eousness, unto holiness. For when 
ye were the servants of sin, ye were 
free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those 
things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those 
things is death. But now being made free from sin, and 
become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, 
and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is 
death: but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. 





The Gospel St. Mark viii. 1. 

N those days the multitude being 
l ^^^^ great, and having nothing to 
eat, Jesus called his disciples unto 
him, and saith unto them, I have 
compassion on the multitude, be- 
cause they have now been with me 
three days, and have had nothing to 
eat : and if I send them away fast- 
ing to their own houses, they will faint by the way ; for 

THEEPisTLE.-The change produced on tlie character of the first heathen convert, by the 
po^-er of the Gospel, mnst have surprised many whom it did not influence. They had been thought- 
less and sensuah-they had delighted, like the rest of mankind, in the coarse follies of the world 
and manifested their desire to make the most of an existence which they believed to be measured 
by a span. Their lives were now as greatly altered as their opinions. Folly found them too much 
occupied with the lessons of truth and wisdom to listen to its allurements, and they shrunk trom 
the contamination of vice as from the sting of a scorpion. Thus purity and spni ual-mmdeduess 
had taken the place of all other motives to action, and they walked in a path by themse ves, their 
eiforts being uniformly directed to the glorifying of God, and the benefiting of their fellow-men. 
Mankind at large, inwliom selfishness and sin still reigned supreme, regarded them with wonder. 
Not understanding the nature of the principles which animated them, they could comprehend none 
of the motives which prompted tlieir conduct ; and they were as lights shmmg in a dark place, 
accounted as meteors by tlie many, but used as friendly beacons by the few. In om- own days, 
258 



THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TKINITY. 



clivers of them came from far. And his disciples answered 
him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread 
here in the wilderness ? And he asked them, How many 
loaves have ye ? And they said. Seven. And he com- 
manded the people to sit down on the ground. And he 
took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and 
gave to his disciples to set before them ; and they did set 
them before the people. And they had a few small fishes ; 
and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before 
them. So they did eat, and were filled : and they took 
up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And 
they that had eaten were about four thousand. And he 
sent them away. 

the contrast presented by merely professing Christians, and those who spiritually receive and obey 
the Gospel, is scarcely less evident, though less observed. A worldly Christian is, in reality, in 
greater opposition to a true follower of Jesus than a heathen ; for there is the fearful charge of 
inconsistency, and that of sinning against the light, to be added to his otber offences of a natural 
and worldly kind, which place him origiually in an equahty of condemnation with the heathen. 
In both cases the servants of sin are, to their misery, free from, or independent of righteousness. 
When converted, they change masters ; and as their fomier lord paid them with death, so now, 
when serving God Almighty, though most unprofitable servants, do they receive as a free gift 
the precious boon of eternal life. 

The Gospel.— The miracle recorded in this Gospel is of the most interesting kind. In the first 
place, and viewed in the most literal manner, it enables us to see how humane and gentle was 
Christ in all His dealings towards those who listened to His words. In the next, it affords an 
illustration of a promise completed, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, 
and all other things shall be added unto you;" and, in the third place, it leads us to contemplate 
the mystery in which He took bread and blessed it, and said, "Take, eat: this is my body." 
Famishing thousands were lingering around Him. They had eagerly listened to His word. It 
had, we may believe, comforted and enlightened many, leading them at once to recognise in His 
heavenly discourse the power of the Son of God. Others, it is probable, were moved to reflection 
though their conversion was delayed ; and the rest, while remaining in the spiritual condition in 
whicli the generality of men are found by the Gospel,— a state of minghng doubt, of sensual fear, 
and hope, and passion, were, it may be conjectured, interested and detained by the expectation of 
some good necessarily, as they imagined, involved in the novelty of the Saviour's doctrine. To 
each class the Gospel was preached : to each class did Christ address Himself in tones of love and 
compassion. The immediate pressure of hunger was not felt while His words held the mind in 
calm and solemn suspense ; but the merciful Teacher had not forgotten the dependent nature of 
His hearers. He was ready to supply the wants for which they were unprepared ; and none of 
those who had listened patiently to His Gospel went away without feeling that He who could so 
well satisfy the desires of the soul could also answer the piercing cry of hunger. It is evident, 
from the sequel of the history, that this His benignant miracle wrought, like His preaching, with 
a very diflerent influence on the minds of the various classes of His hearers. To some it brought 
the conviction of His divinity. In the hearts of others it only excited the desire to place Him at 
the head of their temporal affairs. The former eventually obtained from Him all that could make 
them blessed : the latter lost Him altogether. And thus are mankind divided in our own days ; 
and this is still the fate which attends the true, and the self-interested, and nominal worshippers 
of Christ. 



259 



The Ei(j]ith Sunday after Trinity. 




The Collect. 

GOD, whose never-failing provi- 
dence ordereth all things both in 
heaven and earth ; We humbly be- 
seech thee to put away from us all 
hurtful things, and to give us those 
things which be profitable for us ; 
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. 

i 

'I A The Collect— God's providence is the necessary result of His united omniscience, 
'iS almighty power, wisdom and love. We must disallow the existence of tliese attributes in 
the Supreme Being, if we can suppose Him either wanting in the knowledge of that which is 
to come, or unconcerned in the direction of its occurrence. But the acknowledgment of God's 
providence, as founded upon His wisdom and power, naturally leads us to inquhe whether He 
have so arranged the connexion of things, and so ordered His government of mankind, as to 
place them' conditionally within the reach of good : that is, whether he have been pleased to give, 
by His own free will, the influence of a cause, in the long series of His created agents, to the 
actions and dispositions of man. We find, at length, that He has promised to hear and answer 
prayer— that He will allow the supplication of the humble and trusting heart to move the 
mighty engines of His all-sufficient mercy. Shall we not make use of this privilege to escape 
what is hurtful, and turn the tide of afEtirs till it lead us to peace and salvation? 
260 



THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTEK TPJXITY. 



The Epistle. Eom. viii. 12. 

EETHEEX, we are debtors, not to 
tlie flesh, to live after the flesh. 
For if ye hve after the flesh, ye shah 
die ; but if ye through the Spirit do 
moitif)^ the deeds ot the body, ye 
shall live. For as many as are led 
by the Spirit of God, they are the 
sons of God. For ye liaA^e not re- 
ceived the spirit of bondage agahi to fear ; but ye have 
received the spirit of adoption, Trhereby we cry, Abba, 
Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God : and if children, then 
heh's ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ : if so be 
that we sufier with him, that we may be also glorified 
together. 

The Gospel St. Matth. vii. 15. 

EWAEE of false prophets, which 
come to you in sheep's clothing, but 
inwardly they are ravening wolves. 
Ye shall know them by their fruits : 
do men gather grapes of thorns, or 
fio's of thistles ? Even so everv o^ood 
tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but 
a corrupt tree bringeth forth eA^il 
fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit ; neither 

The Epistle. — Eeason and the Gospel speak with, ahnost equal force in this divine exhortation. 
We surely owe no debt of gratitude or obedience to those whose very nature it is to work us harm ; 
and if among all our enemies sin is the worst, to sin ought we to be least ready to render service. 
But the consec|uence of refusing assent to this obvious lesson, will be of a more fearful kind than 
any of the ordinary results of perverted zeal. Poverty and disgrace may attend our serving a bad 
or foolish earthly master ; but the service which we give to sin will be paid for by death ; the evil 
which we do will return upon us in the shape of fearful tormentors; the body which we have 
pampered will be to us the body of death ; and the passion that has glowed in our hearts with 
unlawful fervom-, the worm that never dieth. The Spirit, on the other hand, which leads us to the 
service of God and of Christ, and which prepares us for it by enabhng nature to throw off the 
encumbrances and defilements of sin, gives life, makes us the children of God, and, in the final 
account, uirites us in gloiy with Christ. To sin is to be ascribed whatever pain or anticipation of 
ill we at present sufier. Let us cease from the service of so bad a master, and it will lose its power 

261 





THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTEK TKINITY. 



can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that 
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into 
the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
into the Kingdom of heaven ; but he that cloeth the will 
of my Father which is in heaven. 

to torment us. Gratitude ought already to bind us to God ; but we have the additional motives 
of the highest species of self-interest to obey Him with a true and zealous obedience. His ser- 
vice is itself perfect freedom ; and His reward is ever with Him. He calls us to obedience, but 
to make us happy ; and the Spirit which He sends to mingle with ours, is a Spirit of liberty, love, 
and joy. 

The Gospel. — Our Lord intended His disciples to perform an important part in the world, and 
to execute the duties of human existence with a care and zeal corresponding to the holiness of 
their profession. Some caution, therefore, against the deceitfulness of the world would have been 
a timely safeguard had they stood in no greater danger than that which springs from the general 
atfairs of life. But they were to be exposed to perils of another kind. As the subjects of a dis- 
pensation given especially for the overthrow of falsehood, it was foreseen that they would be as a 
mark for the fiery shafts of deceit and error ; — that the wiles of Satan would be employed against 
them with unceasing activity, and that it would tlierefore become them to walk in the path of life, 
as certainly knowing that they were surrounded by fierce and sleepless enemies. The warning 
thus given by our Lord was soon proved to be necessary. Heresies arose, more dangerous to the 
purity, than persecution to the safety, of the Church. Scarcely had the first generation of Christ's 
disciples passed away, when the enemy of salvation began the great experiment of setting up 
his kingdom upon earth in the outward form of the kingdom of heaven. He now pretended to be 
zealous for free inquiry. His preachers were sent in the track of the Apostles and Evangelists of 
Christ ; and while the servants of God, in the faithful discharge of their office, warned men of the 
wrath to come, these emissaries of darkness prophesied only the smooth things which leave the 
world contented with its state of error and condemnation. But successful as the ministers of evil 
have ever been, it is not because they are impenetrable to observation. Our Lord's test is suf- 
ficent to make them disclose both their nature and their purposes. The false prophet can never 
in his own case act with holiness, simplicity, and self-denial ; but it is only on teachers whose 
conduct is thus characterised tliat mankind .can consistently place confidence. Do the genuine 
followers of Christ, then, uniformly manifest a love of truth and virtue which overcomes every 
selfish consideration? And do others who come in his name, or with systems of their own, act, 
notwithstanding their professions, in direct opposition to true honour and benevolence ? Which 
ought we to believe? With which should we cast in our lot? The warning given by our Lord 
respects, in the first instance, the danger which attends us from the deceit and false pretensions 
of others. But it refers, in the second place, to the deceitfulness and corruption of our own 
hearts. " Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;" 
an abridgment of men's confidence in the mere profession of belief which cuts down, in many 
cases, the whole of the scaffolding on which hope had rested. The tranquillity enjoyed by super- 
ficial Christians would be astonishing, were it not evident that they are too little acquainted with 
the religion whicli they profess to be aware of its demands, or of the responsibilities under which 
it has placed them. A prudent man will not remain contented in this state when made acquainted 
with its dangers. The nature of the case, fairly brought before his mind, will convince him that, 
at least, some inquhy ought to be instituted respecting what is meant by entering the kingdom 
of heaven, and what is required besides addressing Christ as Lord. To a person so awakened, 
the words of our Lord, " He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven," will suggest 
fresli reasons for examining what are the requirements and what the intentions of the Gospel. 
The will of God has hitherto been an unknown or unacknowledged rule of life. It is now inquired 
into — viewed in its various exemplifications ; and being seen to surround on all sides the avenues 
to a liappy existence — to be, indeed, the one grand foundation of the kingdom of lieaven, is, if 
gi-ace be accorded, humbly and gladly obeyed. 



262 



The Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 




RANT to us, Lord, we beseech tliee, 
the spirit to think and do always 
such things as be rightful ; that w^e, 
who cannot do any thing that is good 
without thee, may by thee be enabled 
to live according to thy will ; through 



" I Jesus Christ our Lord. 



Amen. 



'i i' I The Collect.— a healthy spirit, ever glad and active in the performance of good, is 
'I i surely the best of aU possessions. To such a spirit, thinking what is right, and feeling the 
will and power to do it, the very sense of existence is happiness, while of all beings it is 
the most readily susceptible of hope. But this happy principle of life is neither self-formed nor 
self-nourished. It is, in all cases where possessed, the gift of God ; and surely there is no blessing 
for which we can pray more divine or more glorious than this. 

The Epistle.— The Gospel brings to remembrance whatever the Almighty has doue for the 
good and the preservation of our race. All, indeed, that has at any time been atfected by His 
benevolence has belonged to the system of grace, purposed from the beginning, though not made 
known to man. In the call of the people of Israel,— in thek mysterious delivery from Egypt,— 
their passage through the Eed Sea,— and the cloud which accompanied them, a shadow and a 
light at the same time— the outline of the Gospel is more than visible ; for a portion of its gi-ace 
was given to sanctify these tilings, and render them efficacious to the present deliverance of God's 

263 



THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 




The Epistle. 1 Cor. x. 1. 

RETHREN, I would not that ye 
should be ignorant, how that all our 
fathers were under the cloud, and 
all passed through the sea ; and 
were all baptized unto Moses m the 
cloud, and m the sea; and did all 
eat the same spiritual meat, and did 
all drink the same spiritual drink : 
(for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them ; 
and that Rock was Christ.) But with many of them God 
was not well pleased ; for they were overthrown in the 
wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the 
intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also 
lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; 
as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, 
and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, 
as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and 
twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some 
of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and 
were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things 
happened unto them for ensainples : and they are written 
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are 
come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take 
heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you, 
but such as is common to man : but God is faithful, who 
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; 
but will Avith the temptation also make a way to escape, 
that ye may be able to bear it. 



people. And while we ouglit to be especially careful not to. forget the heavenly mercy thus mani- 
fested, so ought we to be equally anxious to resist any return of that spirit of disobedience 
whereby so many were led to destruction, even when the divine goodness was beaming directly 
upon them. This warning is necessary in all ages, but more particularly in those which the 
Alrniglity flivours witli many privileges and advantages. Vice, then, is peculiarly odious, and the 
punishments pvepai'cd for it will doubtlessly be proportioned to its enormity. Christ, tempted and 
resisted, though not yet known in the majesty of His mediatorial kingdom, punished rebellion 
against lioliuess witli tlie bite of the fiery scorpion. But now He is visibly exalted, He has 
publicly announced tlie nature of His rule, and foretold the penalties which shall attend dis 

264 



THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTEK TKINITY. 



The Gospel. St. Luke xvi. 1. 

ESUS said unto his disciples, There 
was a certain rich man which had a 
steward*, and the same w^as accused 
unto him that he had wasted his 
goods. And he caUed him, and said 
unto hin]. How is it that I hear this 
of thee ? Give an account of thy 
stewardship *, for thou mayest be no 
longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, 
What shall I do ? for my lord taketh away from me the 
stewardship: I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed. I 
am resolved what to do, that, when I am put oat of the 
stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So 
he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and 
said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord ? 
And he said. An hundred measures of oil. And he said 
unto him. Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write 
fifty. Then said he to another. And how much owest 
thou? And he said. An hundred measures of wheat. 
And he said unto him. Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 
And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he 
had done wisely: for the children of this world are in 
their generation wdser than the children of light. And I 
say unto you. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon 
of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they may receive 
you into everlastmg habitations. 

obedience. Let us then place no confidence in any liope of escape from His wrath, except in that 
which He teaches us to cherish when we repent of sin, and diligently cultivate all the graces of 
holiness. 

The Gospel. — Our Lord has here stated a case which sets the conduct of professing Christians 
in a melancholy light. The worldly and the fraudulent act with caution. They foresee danger, 
and, according to their principles, provide against it. However much we may despise the in- 
justice of some, the avarice of others, or the grosser vices of a third class, their prudence and per- 
severance, viewed apart from the objects sought, must often excite our admiration. This was the 
feeling which arose in the mind of the steward's master. While he punished in the severest 
manner the frauds of wMch that false servant had been guilty, he could not refrain from express- 
ing his wonder at the prudence with which he had guarded himself against the coming mis- 
fortune. Nothing was left undone which caution coiild dictate. Friends were sought, and their 
kindness secured. Let us with equal care seek God's friendship, seeing that the world will not 
much longer employ us. 

265 ^ 2 M 




The Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 




ET thy merciful ears, Lord, be 
open to the prayers of thy humble 
servants ; and that they may obtain 
their petitions make them to ask such 
things as shall please thee ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — It is an important part of the Christian's discipline to learn, to ask 
aright. The admonition of St. James on tliis subject cannot be too often repeated : — " Ye 
ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." Prayer is an appointed means of grace ; and 
whatever means God may have been pleased to set before us as channels of mercy, must 
be employed according to their nature, which is holy, and consecrated to holiness. The supplica- 
tions of the idle and vicious, of the proud and sensual, are not prayer, — the esscDtial cliaracterof 
wliich is, that it is a means of grace ; and words without meaning, — desire without faith, — fear 
without repentance, — form without spirit, — can never procure the favom* of the Almighty. In 
order, then, to pray with success, we must first seek the Spirit of holiness and wisdom ; — enti-eat 
\]\c Lord to make us acquainted witli the true sources of happiness, and to fill our hearts with 
\\\<- virtu, s r.f faith and obedient resignation. Thus prepared, we need not doubt but that God 
-will botli Ik a)- and answer our petitions. 

2f)6 



THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TRINITY. 



The Epistle. 1 Cor. xii. 1. 




ONCERNING spiritual gifts, bre- 
thren, I would not have you igno- 
rant. Ye know that ye were Gen- 
tiles, carried away unto these dumb 
idols, even as ye were led. Where- 
fore I give you to understand, that 
no man speaking by the Spirit of God 
calleth Jesus accursed; and that no 
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 
And there are differences of administrations, but the same 
Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is 
the same God, who worketh all in all. But the manifesta- 
tion of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to 
another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to 
another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts 
of healing by the same Spnit ; to another the working of 
miracles; to another prophecy ; to another discerning of 
spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another 
the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that 
one and* the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man seve- 
rally as he will. 



The Epistle.— It is the great glory of the Gospel that it has made men acquainted with 
spiritual gifts. In the old times of ignorance, objects of mere sense whoUy occupied their atten- 
tion. They made idols of whatever had an outward aspect of good ; and were satisfied withwor- 
shippmg that which seemed for the instant, whether it had life or not, to be able to give pain or 
pleasm-e° Christianity has taught mankind to look beyond the forms of things, and the senseless 
matter of which they consist. It has led them to meditate upon the presence of that vivifying 
Spuit which alone gives essential life and beauty, or any permanence, to the things which best 
deserve our admiration. But the knowledge that there is a Universal Spirit,— a holy Spirit of life 
and truth,— overthrows every species of worship but that of the one God from whom it proceeds. 
His will and decrees thenceforth become the great subject of consideration to the thoughtful mind. 
Anunated by His Spirit, it rejoicingly accepts the offers of mercy made through a Mediator and 
Redeemer, and beholds in every movement of the system which surrounds him a manifestation of 
the Spirit, " dividing to every one severally as He will." Jesus Chi-ist has, of all beings that ever 
appeared upon the earth, most openly displayed the power of the Holy Ghost. To deny Him, 
therefore, is signally to resist the Spirit, and is an offence impossible to hun who lives under the 
gracious 'influences of that beneficent Guide into all truth. On the other hand, it is equally 
impossible for the unaided and uupurified mind to confess the divine nature and sovereignty of 

267 ^ . 



THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TRINITY. 



Tlie Gospel. St. Luke xix. 41. 

ND when he was come near, he 
beheld the city, and wept over it, 
saying. If thou hadst known, even 
thou, at least in this thy day, the 
things which belong unto thy peace ! 
but now they are hid from thine 
eyes. For the days shall come upon 
thee, that thine enemies shall cast a 
trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee 
in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, 
and thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave in 
thee one stone upon another ; because thou knewest not 
the time of thy visitation. And he went into the temple, 
and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them 
that bought ; saying unto them. It is written. My house is 
the house of prayer : but ye have made it a den of thieves. 
And he taught daily in the temple. 

Jesus. The Holy Spirit converting the soul makes it susceptible of the love of God, and that 
love, communicated through Clnist, is the fountain whence spring the prayers and the confessions 
which honour the Saviour's name. 

The Gospel. — The mercy of God is over all His works ; but it manifests itself with a greater 
-degree of splendour in the dispensations of His providence than in the outward exercises of His 
power over matter ; and with a sublimer majesty in the defence of His people, tlian in the more 
general government of the world at large. Kesistance to the will of God is a violation of the first 
law of being : opposition to His mercy is the violation of the first principle of good. Of both 
these the Jews were signally guilty. The law was published among them with a clearness and 
simplicity which would not allow of their excusing themselves on any plea of ignorance. God's 
mercy was exercised in their favour with a perseverance which proved by the most wonderful of 
arguments the long-stiffering character of His love. By His Son He led them through the waste 
howling wilderness, and established them, against all the power of the enemy, in a land flowing 
with milk and honey. Jerusalem arose beneath the shadow of His righteousness and love ; gleams 
of His glory surmounted its battlements, and His presence rested in the sanctuary as His abiding- 
place. It might have been expected that the first or second instance of open rebellion would have 
overwlielmed the city which thus owed all its prosperity and magnificence to God. But it was 
spared ; the season of mercy was prolonged ; and the otfers of salvation were repeated, at last, 
by the divinest Messenger that ever communicated between God and man. It refused to repent 
even now : the day of its last visitation passed by ; and ruin pitched its unerring artillery in all 
the borders of the land. Christ's prophecy was literally fulfilled in the course of the succeeding 
forty years. The Eoman armies, under the command of Titus, commenced a regular siege 
against the devoted city, and after reducing it to the most horrible extremities, deluged its 
streets witli the blood of the inhabitants, and left scarcely a vestige of the Temple remaining. 
Would that our fathers, might the reflecting Jew now say, — would that they had allowed it to 
be purified, and again made a house of prayer, by the holy zeal of Jesus ! 




268 



The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 




promises, 
treasure ; 



GOD, who declarest thy ahiiighty 
power most chiefly in shewing mercy 
and pity ; Mercifully grant unto us 
such a measure of thy grace, that 
we, running the way of thy com- 
mandments, may obtain thy gracious 
be made partakers of thy heavenly 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 



The Collect. — It is the purpose of the Gospel to shew God's power through the medium 
of His mercy ; and it is the happiness of the believer in the Gospel to acknowledge that he has 
discovered this, its object, in his own condition and experience. The grace which sanctifies and 
enlightens urges us forward in the way of God's commandments as the way which leads to hap- 
piness. Without this help, such a course would present innumerable difficulties ; and in no other 
path could we find the peace which the divine promises afford, or the treasures laid up for us in 
futurity. The gift of grace is the greatest of God's gifts ; for it embodies the applications of the 
justifying merits of the Eedeemer, and the quickening influence of the heavenly Spirit. It is the 
necessary preliminary to all His other mercies ; laying the foundation for the living temple, and 
throwing up light and life from that foundation into every other part of the edifice, 

269 



THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. 1 Cor. xv. 1 




EETHREN, I declare unto you 
the Gospel whieli I preached unto 
you, which also ye have received, 
and wherein ye stand : by which also 
ye are saved, if ye keep in memory 
what I preached unto you, unless 
ye have believed in vain. For I 
dehvered unto you first of all, that 
Avhich I also received, ho^v that Christ died for our sins, 
according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried; 
and that he rose again the third day, according to the 
Scriptures ; and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the 
twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred 
brethren at once ; of whom the greater part remain unto 
this present ; but some are fallen asleep : after that, he 
was seen of James ; then of all the Apostles : and last of 
all, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 
For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be 
called an Apostle, because 1 persecuted the Church of 
God. But by the grace of God I am what I am : and his 
grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain ; but 
I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but 
the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether 
it were 1 or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. 



The Epistle.— The arguments wMcli prove the resurrection of the dead are as various as the 
questions which may be suggested by every variety of human mind and chai'acter. But the best 
is that employed by St. Paul m this passage of his Epistle to the Corinthians. Christ was seen 
after His death by those who were most interested in determining the truth of His pretensions. 
By calling Him Master, they had been placed in a condition which obliged them to examine 
every point of evidence with the scnipulous severity of common self-interest. If He were dis- 
covered to be a deceiver, the penalty they would have had to pay in acknowledging their mistake 
would have been what thousands have paid— a confession of error, and submission to the momen- 
tary scorn or ridicule which attends the discovery of some gross instance of credulity. But if, 
having learned the imposture of Christ, they were determined to persevere in preacliing His 
doctrines, and proclaiming Him the Son of God, then they were undertaking a task, the dangers 
attending which were of the most awful kind, and the weight of which was altogether dispro- 
poi-tioned to the character of the persons engaging in the enterprise. The gTcater part of the five 
hundred who had seen Christ after His resurrection were living Avhen St. Paul wrote this Epistle 
to the Corinthian converts. It is hardly to be supposed that he would have ventured to speak 
thus to a highly-cultivated and intelligent people, unless he had possessed ample means to esta- 

270 



THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



The Gosjpel St. Luke xviii. 9. 

ESUS spake this parable unto cer- 
tain which trusted in themselves 
that they were righteous, and de- 
spised others : Two men went up 
into the temple to pray: the one 
a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. 
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus 
with himself, God, I thank thee, that 
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
or even as this Publican : I fast twice in the week, I give 
tithes of all that I possess. And the Pubhcan, standing 
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, 
but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me 
a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house 
justified rather than the other : for every one that exalteth 
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself 
shall be exalted. 

blish his assertion. But there is another part of the same argument, and it is not less interesting 
or less powerful in many respects than tlie former. St. Paul himself had been led to preach the 
Gospel from a proof of its truth, which left him nothing to doubt. His personal character and 
circumstances at the time of his conversion, and the course which he afterwards pursued, viewed 
together, bring his simple statement, " And last of all he was seen of me also," into the direct 
line of the argument, and appeal with irresistible force to candid and unprejudiced minds. 

The Gospel.— Christ's treatment of the several classes of His countrymen affords a striking 
illustration both of the grandeur of His character, and of the truth of His doctrines. The Phari- 
sees at this period were not only the most powerful, but the most popular of the sects into which 
the nation was divided. But he allowed no occasion to pass in which He could rebuke them for 
those very things by whicli they had gained their reputation. The pnbhcans, on the other hand, 
were the most despised of the people, and their unpopularity was founded in reasons which have 
at all times been regarded as sufficient to justify popular hatred. Our Lord, however, did not 
shrink from the task of proving that the sins of the latter repented of, would form a far less 
obstacle to their justification before God, than would the ostentatious pretensions of the former to 
a sanctity which had neither the spirit nor the substance of true holiness. Sincere repentance 
obtains, through Christ, forgiveness. Tiie proud claims of man can never prevail with God. Self- 
confidence of every kind is not merely rebuked in this parable ; it is brought to the bar of judg- 
ment, and solemnly condemned. Pride enters the heart through many channels ; but it manifests 
in all cases the same nature, blinding the understanding, and perverting the affections. It is on 
this account our Lord tells us that, "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased;" there 
being no exception to the condemnation of a vice which produces such fearful ravages on the 
happiness of mankind, and which is in itself rebellion against the majesty of God,— a disowning 
of His truth, and a rejection of His mercy. Humility, on the contrary, opens the heart to every 
grace ; — teaches the soul to confess God's sovereignty and adore His goodness ; — nor leaves it to 
indulge, unrebuked, in any thought or practice prejudicial to the happiness of the world. 




271 



The Timlfth Sunday after Trinity, 




The Collect, 

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
who art always more ready to hear 
than we to pray, and are wont to 
give more than either we desire, or 
deserve ; Pour down upon us the 
abundance of thy mercy; forgiving 
7i us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and 
i giving us those good things which we are not worthy 
to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus 
Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen. 




The Collect. — This beautiful prayer teaches us to make a confession which belongs to every 
heart properly animated by the mingled graces of humility and love. We know God's unchange- 
able goodness, yet our trust and thankfulness are ever on the ebb. Our wants are innumerable, 
even when we think of those only which the Grospel permits us to lay before God ; yet how rarely 
do we seek with proportionable earnestness for their reUel at the mercy- seat of heaven? God's 
bounty is more active than our faith, or we should perish for want, both spiritual and natural. 

272 



THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Ejnstle. 3 Cor, iii. 4. 

UCH trust have we through Christ 
to God- ward : not that we are sufh- 
cient of ourselves to thmk any thmg 
as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency 
is of God. Who also hath made us 
able ministers of the New Testa- 
ment; not of the letter, but of the 
Spirit: for the letter Idlleth, but the 
Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death written 
and engraven in stones was glorious, so that the children 
of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for 
the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done 
aAvay; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be 
rather glorious ? For if the ministration of condemnation 
be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness 

ospeL St. Mark vii. 81. 

ESUS, departing from the coasts of 
Tyre and Sidon, came unto the sea 
of Galilee, through tlie midst of the 
coasts of Decapolis. And they bring 
unto him one that was deaf, and had 
an impediment in his speech; and 
they beseech him to put his hand 
upon him. And he took him aside 
from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and 

The Epistle. — The great support of the first preachers of the Gospel consisted in their constant 
reference to the present power of God. On surveying the wide fields of labour into which they 
were sent, human feeling must have shrunk with terror from the prospect, at the simple recollec- 
tion of the responsibility involved in such an undertaking. Much more must this have been the 
case when the world was seen rising in active opposition against them, and arming itself with 
every weapon of destruction. But their trust in God made them sufficient for the work. They 
became able ministers of the New Covenant ; — they taught a religion illumined by the full light 
of the divine Spirit, and of which every part was redolent of life, glory, and intelligence. Moses 
teaching the law, and establishing a system of types and emblems, the one condemning, and the 
other not fully understood, was surrounded with a beaming splendour; how much more, then, 
may the Gospel lay claim to be regarded with admiration and obedient love ! 

273 2 N 




exceed in glory. 



The 




THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



he spit, and touched his tongue ; and looking up to heaven, 



string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And 
he charged them that they should tell no man : but the 



He hath done all things well ; he maketh both the deaf to 



The Gospel. — Our Lord visited the extreme parts of tlie land in the journeys which He took, 
going about to do good. The coasts of Tjre and Sidon stretched along the Mediterranean Sea, 
forming the north-western limit of the ancient Canaan. DecajDolis received its name from being 
a district contaimng ten cities, and skirted the sea of Galilee. The appearance of Christ in these 
neglected neighbourhoods fulfilled the prophecy — " The people that walked in darkness have seen 
a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light 
shined." — Isaiah ix. 2. In the miracle wrought on the occasion described, our Lord exercised 
His power by the use of a simple and significant sign. This could not have been needed as a 
help to His power ; for it was just as impossible for any one else to give such efficacy to the 
means which He employed, as it was to perform the cure without the use of means. He pro- 
bably took this method on the present occasion for the purpose of rendering the miracle more 
intelligible to the rude and simple people who surrounded Him, or to the person on whom it was 
wrought. The reason why He charged those who witnessed it to tell no man, was, it may be 
conjectured, this : — He knew that mere wonder would, in most cases, be excited by the relation; 
and that among those who listened with curiosity to the account, questionings and disputes, and, 
soon after, scornful denials of the truth of the report would arise, which would prejudice His 
cause, and injure the effect to be looked for from the labours of His Apostles. But as it was 
only in some cases he gave the admonition, there were probably particular circumstances, occa- 
sioned by the place or the time, which rendered it better that no excitement should be produced 
by His works. His object rarely appears to have been to rouse the minds of multitudes by His 
miracles, but to convert and assure those whose hearts were open to the persuasions of His 
Gospel. The testimony of the multitude to the greatness of His works was gladly given. " He hath 
done all things well ; He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." But this was 
the exclamation of astonishment rather than of the thankful faith and love which give evidence 
of conversion. The sight of a miracle naturally excites wonder ; and when it has been evidently 
wrought from compassion, the feeling of surprise becomes imbued with a corresponding senti- 
ment of affection and veneration. This, in all ages, would be the consequence of a display of 
power similar to that which Jesus now exercised. The multitude has no interest to oppose to 
the expression of natural emotion. But with all the miracles which our Lord performed, and at 
the sight of which the crowd gave loose to so much wonder, few only were converted ; and the 
great work of establishing the Gospel was referred to a period when miracles should have gradu- 
ally ceased, and the power of God should be made manifest not by His visible operations, but by 
His Spirit, working silently through the word of truth, and in the hearts of willing hearers. 
Whoever will carefully consider the character of Christianity— the history of its foundation and 
progress, will see reason to entertain the most profound admiration of the wisdom by which it 
has been established. Sensible wonders first proved the truth of its pretensions. Its Author 
brought it to the world with the power of heaven about Him. But the very design of the 
religion was to provide mankmd with the means of peace and conversion. His blood alone 
could give the one — His Spirit alone could work the other. No sooner, therefore, had He 
offered a sufiScient degree of evidence of the inferior kind to secure the belief of the few required 
for the publishing of His message, than He brought into operation the grander and more essen- 
tial powers of the system ; working not visible miracles which hundreds might see, but giving to 
every convert, for Itis 0Y\-n sake, the evidence which he might best feel and understand to his 
everlasting comfort. 





hear, and the dumb 




274 



The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 




The Collect, 

LMIGHTY and merciful God, of 
whose only gift it cometli that thy 
faithful people do unto thee true and 
laudable service; Grant, we beseech 
thee, that we may so faithfully serve 
thee in this life, that we fail not 
finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the 
merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — We acknowledge that it is our duty to serve God ; but His faithful 
people do more : tliey regard it as their chief honoiu' and pleasure to be able to perform His will, 
and to love the work about which. He employs them. Yet when they compare their own happy 
sentiments on tbis subject with the feelings of the world, a new cause for thankfulness is excited 
in their minds. They know it is by the gift of God only that they are able thus to think and to 
do ; and hence they ever pray with devout earnestness for the continuance and increase of that 
grace which, helping them to do the will of their Father here, will surely lead them to His 
blessed abode in heaven. 



THE THIKTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 




The Epistle, Gal. iii. 16. 

Abraham and his seed were the 
promises made. He saith not, And 
to seeds, as of many ; but as of one ; 
And to thy seed, which is Christ. 
And this 1 say, That the covenant 
that was confirmed before of God 
in Christ, the Law, which was four 
hundred and thirty years afte]', can- 
not disanmil, that it should make the promise of none 
effect. For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more 
of promise ; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 
Wherefore then serveth the Law ? It was added because 
of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the 
promise was made ; and it was ordained by angels in the 
hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator 
of one ; but God is one. Is the Law then against the 
promises of God ? God forbid : for if there had been a 
law given which could have given life, verily righteousness 
should have been by the Law. But the Scripture hath 
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus 
Christ might be given to them that believe. 



^ The Epistle.— This important exposition of the doctrine of justification claims our most atten- 
tive study. It shows how " the Gospel was preached beforehand unto Abraham ; and thereby 
connects the most ancient operations of Divine mercy with the full development of the plan of 
grace in the sufferings and triumphs of the Saviour. The promises made to Abraham, accepted 
thi-ough faith, were restricted to the race which sliould spring from the child given by promise, and 
whose birth could be ascribed only to the power and blessing of God. But the seed of Abraham, 
to whom the promises were made in a higher and more complete sense, was Christ ; and the cove- 
nant, confirmed in him above four hundred years before the Mosaic dispensation had its begin- 
ning, could not be set aside by that comparatively late and hmited institution. God's promise 
stands sure whatever be the subsequent ordinances of His providence. In the introduction of the 
law the system of grace was neither abrogated nor suspended : on the contrary, its necessity was 
rendered more apparent ; its value more conspicuous to all who understood the law, and acknow- 
ledged its authority. The plan of mediation was employed in its establishment. Moses stood 
between God, whose unity was then solemnly declared-, and the people. The law itself made 
manifest the rigliteousness of the Almighty, but contravened hone of His piomises. Its perfect 
holiness exposed men to condemnation because they had loved, and were still pursuing, the way 
of sni. It was their corruption, and not the severity of the law, whicli originated the death to 
wliich tliey tlience became subject. It could not give them life, because they resisted the prin- 
ciple of life in its Divine Author. The purpose, therefore, for which it was instituted, it fulfilled 
when it concluded all under sin, that being con^-inced of their true situation, tbey might flee to 
tlie promised grace offered in tlie covenant of faitii 

276 



THE THIETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 




The Gospel. St. Luke x, 2;3. 

LESSED are the eyes which see the 
things that ye see. For I tell yon, 
That many prophets and kings have 
desired to see those things which ye 
see, and have not seen them ; and 
to hear those things which ye hear, 
and have not heard them. And be- 
hold, a certain Lawyer stood np, and 
tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit 
eternal life ? He said nnto him. What is written in the 
Law ? how readest thon ? And he answering said. Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy 
mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto 
him. Thou hast answered right ; this do, and thou shalt 
live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, 
And who is my neighbour ? And Jesus answering said, 
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to J ericho, and 
fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, 
and wounded him, and departed leaving him half dead. 
And by chance there came down a certain priest that 
way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other 
side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, 



The Gospel— This is one of the most interesting of our Lord's discourses. He asserts tl.e 
worth of His religion by an appeal to tlie testimony of the greatest and wisest men of old times. 
But in reasoning with the subtle disputant who had assailed Him, He no longer presses the con- 
sideration of His own sublime doctrine. Instead of refuting His antagonist by referring to the 
prophets, or unfolding the relations existing between the covenant with Abraham and other 
righteous men, and the dispensation about to be established, He meets him on his own ground. 
He takes the law for the support of His argument, and tlie law as cited by His opponent. " What 
is written in the law ? How readest thou ?" The inquiry, followed by these His simple but trying 
questions, was one which He had no unwillingness to answer, and upon which He could have 
satisfied the mind of a more humble questionist with revelation, and promises pregnant with con- 
solation as well as trutb. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"' The Scribe asked this 
under the mingled impression of the vast importance of the subject, and of its fitness to put the 
pretensions of Jesus to the proper test. He seems to have been one of the most thoughtful of his 
class ; and to Lave desired to receive the truth, so far as the prejudices he had imbibed would 
allow him to embrace it. But our Lord saw that he had no disposition to place bis confidence in 
the righteousness which the Gospel was to provide for him rather than in the righteousness which 
he vainly supposed miglit be gained by obedience to the law. To the law, therefoi-e, he directed 
his attention. Neither of them disputed that it was contained under two general heads. " Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself." Tliis was the answer of one who looked 

277 



THE THIETEENTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he 
was ; and, when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 
and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil 
and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him 
to an inn and took care of him. And on the morrow, when 
he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the 
host, and said unto him, Take care of him ; and whatsoeyer 
thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto 
him that fell among the thieves ? And he said, He that 
shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him. Go, and 
do thou hkewise. 

for justification through the law ; and our Lord immediately rejoined, " This do, and thou shalt 
live." But the ready assent afi"orded to his definition of the law, the acceptance of the interpre- 
tation of its maxims which he had given, placed the Scribe in a difficulty not perceived till he was 
too far advanced in the argument to retreat. "Willing to justify himself,"' he said, "And who is 
my neighbour ?" Our Lord, in answering this further question, made it manifest, that, whatever 
might be thought respecting the power of the law to justify, it was not kept, even by those who 
msisted most on the claim which, by obedience, miglit be laid to eternal life and happiness. The 
case which he instanced was equally strong and simple. Had the Scribe taken the former part of 
the answer which lie had given at fii-st for the subject of his second question, he would ]jave been 
answered in a similar manner, and would probably have found himself involved in a still gTeater 
chfficulty. The spiritual worship of God was then little known ; the loving of Him with all the 
heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, still less so. It may be conjectured that he foresaw the 
danger which would attend his touchmg on such a subject ; and skilfully, therefore, turned the 
discussion into a channel in which he might follow it without any near approach to doctrines of a 
spiritual natm-e. " This do, and thou shalt live," said Jesus : but it was evident that the perform- 
ance of the duty, according to the requirements of the law, had never yet been realized, and, there- 
fore, that the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal Ufe?'' must be answered in another 
way than that adopted by the Jews, or by the world at large. " This do, and thou shalt live," 
when said under the law, and with only the knowledge of the law for our help, is a letter which 
killeth ; said under the Gospel, it is a precept wliich may be obeyed, though not unto justification, 
yet unto the praise and glory of God. If truth be of any value to mankind, the Gospel, considered 
in the most general manner, must deserve to be regarded as a treasm-e of inestimable worth. The^ 
principles it has established are principles of which the world knew nothing till taught them by 
Jesus Christ. But it is not on its moral revelations or sanctions that the Gospel rests its chief claim 
to notice : it unites with these appeals to the wisdom of mankind the full, clear views of futm-e glory 
and felicity ;— views as adapted to fill the heart with gladness, as the doctrines and prmciiDles them- 
selves are calculated to exalt and satisfy the most inquisitive understanding. The illustration of the 
practical worth of true religion is nobly given in this parable. Christ had not yet made known the 
peculiar worth of His own dispensation ; but He proved how necessarily every system which God 
has given is consistent with justice, purity, and mercy. The conduct of the priest and Levite was 
that, probabl}-, which characterised the greater portion of the sacerdotal race at this period ; but our 
Lord exposed Himself to the hati-ed of the whole class by His faithful and severe representation 
of its want of the virtues which ouglit to have distinguished it. Despised as the Samaritans were, 
they fulfilled, in the present instance, the law of God better than His own anointed servants. 
Tliey indulged in no quibbles respecting the meaning of the word neighbour : they liad no desire 
to confine its application to then own little community ; but witli a generous and spnitual inter- 
pretation of the precept spoken of hy Christ, were willing to regard all as belonging to them who 
needed the exercise of their Iiumanity. Let those who reject or injure the cause cf the Gospel 
consider what they are doing, when such was the earlv lesson of its Author. 
278 



The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 





The Collect. 



\^ LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 



give unto ns tlie increase of faith, 
hope, and charity : and, that we may 
obtain that which thou dost promise, 
make ns to love that which thou dost 
command ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



-i V'-' The Collect. — Tlie possession of Christian grace is ihe best proof whieli we can our- 
'"' ' selves enjoy that God has been pleased to vouchsafe us an entrance into the kingdom of 
■ ' ' heaven. As we feel our faith, our hope, our charity, on the increase, we may indulge with 
proportionably greater confidence the happy expectation of approaching blessedness. It is in 
the conviction of this truth that the believer ever prays that he may be enabled to love, more and 
more, the law of his God. That law, he feels, tends only to good, and is in Christ the sole foun- 
dation of good. As he obeys it, he promotes both the welfare of others and his own eternal 
interests. Hence the language of the Collect, and of every prayer which embodies the sentiment 
of evangelical belief. The Gospel received is a fountain of prayer as well as a source of wisdom 
and consolation. It affords both motives and means ; it gives both the body of the expression, 
and the Spirit which is its life. 

279 



THE FOUETEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. Gal v. 16. 

SAY then. Walk in the Sphit, and ye 
shall not fulfil the hist of the flesh. 
For the flesh lusteth against the 
Spirit, and the Spirit agamst the 
flesh ; and these are contrary the 
one to the other : so that ye cannot 
do the things that ye would. But if 
ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not 
under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, 
which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lascivi- 
ousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, 
^Yi^ath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunk- 
enness, reveUings, and such like : of the which I tell you 
before, as I have also told you in time past. That they 
who do such things shah not inherit the kingdom of Gocl. 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance : against 
such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. 

The Epistle. —By the entrance of sin into the vroiid, the fii-st and noblest principles of natnre 
were utterly subverted. Thence the good lost its value in the eyes of man, and evil became the 
torch at which desire lit its lamp. Defonnity took the place of pure immortal beauty, and the 
servant was exalted into the place of sovereignty. In this general convulson, the spirit, to which 
humanity owed all its original power and glory, lost its grandeur and energy. It became the prey 
of corruption ; and the mere animal nature, feeling the balance in its favour, rose in fierce triumph, 
and claimed the dominion of the whole man. Thence began the conflict which every individual 
of our race has felt to be carried on, with more or less intensity, in his own heart. For the most 
pai-t, evil gains the victory, and the vanquished slave of sin becomes subject to tlie law of death. 
The consequence of this state of things is the multiplying of particular offences, and the increase 
of the load which the child of sin and death has thenceforward to bear. There is but one means 
of resistance : it is that offered in the New Covenant. God, for Christ's sake, will give the Holy 
Spirit for our recoverv'. Under tlie influence of His grace, the soul recovers itself. Tlie breath of 
life again animates our nature. We see and feel the beauty of holiness once more ; and, m-ged 
onwards, gladly fulfil the new law of our new being. Obeying God's will,— rejoicing in the mani- 
festations and requirements of His holiness,— there is no law against us; for we are hereby with 
the law ;— Ijorne along in the direction of its current ;— and tenchng by the wishes and asphations 
of our hearts, even like itself, to the glorifying of God's perfections. The sublimest doctrines of 
Christianity have a searching tendency which renders them as practically applicable in the judg- 
ment of conduct as they are spiritually adapted to elevate the soul by noble displays of truth. 
We have not the Gospel in our hearts if we have not its Spirit ; and the proof that we have the 
Spirit is one of a most experimental cliaracter— a proof made up entirely of lioly thoughts, affec- 
tionate dispositions, and an active willingness to do good 

280 




THE FOLTKTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TRINITY. 



The Gospel St. Luke xvii. II. 

XD it came to pass, as Jesus went 
to Jerusalem, that he passed through 
the midst of Samaria, and Galilee. 
And as he entered into a certain 
viUage, there met him ten men that 
were lepers, which stood afar off. 
And they lifted up their voices, and 
said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on 
us. And when he saAY them, he said unto them. Go, she^v 
yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, 
as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, 
when he saw that he was healed, turned bad^, and with a 
loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his 
feet, giving him thanks ; and he Avas a Samaritan. And 
Jesus answering said. Were there not ten cleansed ? but 
where are the nine ? There are not found that returned 
to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said 
unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee 
whole. 

The Gosfel. — The journeys of our Lord afforded a constant succession of objects for the exercise 
of His power and benevolence. Samaria lay in the direct road from Galilee to Jerusalem ; and 
the path upon which He was now travelling was probably one of those poor and wild tracks which 
the unfortunate lepers frequented, as exposing them least to insult. They knew Jesus, and stood 
afar off in deep acknowledgment of His purity. This simple circumstance is worthy of notice, as 
incidentally indicating the reverence wliich was felt for the character of Christ. Their prayer 
consisted of but few words ; but it was the prayer of strong faith and necessity, and to such suppli- 
cations Christ never refused an answer. The cure was instantaneously effected ; but it belonged 
to the priests alone to pronounce that it had taken place ; and Christ in this, as in every other 
particular, obeyed the law of righteousness with the minutest exactness. In the conduct of the 
nine who returned not to give thanks, we see imaged the behaviour as well of many Chi-istians as 
of the world. Cured of the worst diseases of the mind, — improved in heart and temper by the 
Gospel,— they not unfrequently forget the source of their habitual tranquillity, and power against 
the incursions of vice. This is the case in various degrees of spiritual growth; but it is not openly 
seen, and therefore escapes detection. Mankind at large commit the sin in so gross a degree, that 
the moral is applied without any difficulty to the mass, and appals the heart in its contemplation 
of so fearful a spectacle. Men, in general, care little about those who bestow some desired good 
when once the benefit is obtained. Their ingratitude, base in itself, is often ruinous to their 
advancement in happiness. It has stopped the current of benevolence and kindly feeling wdiicli 
otherwise might have provided them with a succession of comforts and advantag: s. The nine 
lepers were cleansed, but the tenth, besides being cleansed, obtained a blessing for his faith. 




281 



The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 




The Collect. 
EEP, we beseech thee, Lord, thy 
Church with thy perpetual mercy: 
and, because the frailty of man 
without thee cannot but fall, keep 
us ever by thy help from all things 
hurtful, and lead us to aU things 
profitable to our salvation ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The' Collect. — The Clmrcii owes its existence and strength to the grace of God ; and 
then flourishes most when it best employs the means of wisdom and holiness which He 
bestows. An earnest employment of confessions and litanies, with frequent exercises of conspi- 
cuous charity, would do more for it than many other means more trusted in. The frailty of man 
is seen in all his independent contrivances ; and however wisely they may have been planned, still 
without God's help we fall, and become exposed, in the loss of salvation, to every species of injury 
and sorrow. Sin and folly united prompt both nations and individuals to seek theii- defence in the 
wisdom of tlie world. It is with difficulty seen, that the blind can never be safe leaders of the 
blind; that it is absurd for the weak to rest on the weak for support; and hence man is trusted 
to when God is disbelieved. 

282 



THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 




The Epistle, Gal. vi. 11. 

E see how large a letter I have 
written unto you with mine own 
hand. As many as desire to make 
a fair shew in the flesh, they con- 
strain you to be circumcised; only 
lest they should suffer persecution 
for the cross of Christ. For neither 
they themselves who are circumcised 
keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that 
they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I 
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the 
world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth 
any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And 
as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, 
and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From hence- 
forth let no man trouble me ; for I bear in my body the 
marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 



for y 



The Gosjjel. St. Matth. vi. 24. 

man can serve two masters : for 
either he will hate the one, and love 
the other; or else he will hold to 
the one, and despise the other. Ye 
cannot serve God and Mammon. 
Therefore I say unto you. Take no 
thought for your life, w^hat ye shall 
eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet 
our body, what ye shall put on : Is not the life more 




The Epistle.— St. Paul had to contend in Galatia Avith a strong party who insisted on the 
observance of the Mosaic rites. His arguments in reply were drawn both from the nature of the 
Christian system, and the conduct of the persons fhemselves who contended against him, Tlie 
Gospel, he proved, was the substance of that revelation which had been only shadowed forth imder 
the law ; it was, he moreover shewed, the fulfilment of the covenant of faith and promise whicli 
God had given to Abraham, and could not, therefore, be regarded as needing any support from 

283 



THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the 
fowls of the air ; for they sow not, neither do they reap, 
nor gather into barns ; yet yom* heavenly Father feedeth 
them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of 
you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 
And why take ye thought for raiment ? Consider the lilies 
of the field how they grow : they toil not, neither do they 
spin : and yet I say unto you. That even Solomon in all 
his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, 
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and 
to-morrow is cast into the oven ; shall he not much more 
clothe you, ye of little faith ? Therefore take no 
thought, saying. What shall we eat? or what shall we 
drink ? or wherewithal shall we be clothed ? (for after all 
these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly 
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteous- 
ness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take 
therefore no thought for the morrow ; for the morrow 
shall take thought for the things of itself : sufficient unto 
the day is the evil thereof 

the mere legal rites of the Mosaic dispensation. If circumcision could give lioliness— if the law 
could bestow salvation, the Cross of Christ was rendered of no avail. But they who contended for 
the law did not keep it, and universal experience proved that it was by faith and the converting- 
Spirit alone that men could be etfectually brought to obedience and holiness. 

Tpie Gospel. — The rule laid down by our Lord is established by common sense, _and mankind 
may attribute most of the evils under which they suffer to its continual violation. But glaring as 
is the folly of many who attempt to serve even two worldly parties not perfectly agreed in spirit or 
pursuit, tlie madness of those is far more evident who think to serve God and Mammon success- 
fully, and receive wages from both, or escape the vengeance of either. It is not the low and 
sensual only wlio make the fatal mistake of endeavouring to serve both God and Mammon. The 
anxious and mistrusting spirit, ever dreading the evils of the morrow, and deeming it necessary to 
seek the world for protection against the incursions of distress, is guilty of this sin and folly in the 
same degree as the more known offender. Our Lord here teaches us how to escape the danger 
thus incurred. The lesson is given in the language of persuasion, the whole argument being one 
of profound benevolence and love. God is the protector of all that trust in Him. The creatures 
which, by a law of instinct, remain tranquil in the bosom of His mercy, are amply provided for. 
Let man feel the same confidence, according to reason and intelligent love, and he too will be as 
secure and happy under the providence of his heavenly Father. To obtain both tin's security and 
the continuous supply of our necessities, no other sacrifice is required of us than that of the doubts 
find ;i!)X!otics which make up the greater portion of our daily burden. No stronger proof could 
Ih jt n of the melancholy consequences of our separation from God, than the unwillingness of 
tin- III III f to ] (lace any confidence in His mercy. Infinite truth gives promises, and we doubt 
111 ; iiiiiiiih wisdom assures us that it will be our guide, and we prefer another ; infinite power 
and benevolence roiiilinic to bless us, and we clo,-:e our ears to their invitations. 

281 



The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, 




The Collect. 
LORD, we beseech thee, let thy 
continual pity cleanse and defend 
tliv Church : and, because it cannot 
continue in safety without thy suc- 
cour, preserve it evermore by thy 
help and goodness ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Collect— The compassion of God towards tlie Cliurcli is shown in a twofold 
operation, it purifies and protects. Both the safety and the glory of Christ's people de- 
pend upon the Divine pity manifesting itself in these ways. Were not the Church cleansed 
from day to day by heavenly grace, it would contract impurity from the world, and evils would 
arise as self-generated in its own bosom. No ordinances, however strictly observed,— no outward 
defences, however numerous or judiciously arranged, could avail without this purifying grace. 
But the language of the Collect carries us a step higher when beholding the Church's confidence 
in God. It is not for the present pity only of our heavenly Father that it prays, but for the 
constant influences of His help and most perfect goodness. The outward or apparent condition 
of the Church may vary ; it may in one age abound in prosperity, and in the next be shaken to 
its foundations by calamity : but the answer to such prayers as this secures its prospect of final 
and everlasting happiness. 

285 



THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. Ephes. iii. 13. 




DESIRE that ye faint not at my tri- 
bulations for you, which is your glory. 
For this cause I bow my knees unto 
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
of whom the whole family in heaven 
and earth is named, that he would 
grant you, according to the riches 
of his glory, to be strengthened with 
might by his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may 
dweU in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all 
saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and 
height ; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth 
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of 
God, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abund- 
antly above all that we ask or think, according to the 
power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the Church 
by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. 
Amen. 



■ The Epistle— St. Paul was willing to bear all tMngs for tlie honour of Christ, and the good of 
His people. The patience witli which he persevered in the labours of an Apostle tended to the 
conversion of many, who, but for the grace which thus manifested itself in him, would never have 
known tlie Gospel. His constant exercise of self-denial, his painful journeyings and watchings, 
were parts of the devotion which he gladly paid to His beloved master ; and while he so willingly 
bore tribulation himself, he was anxious that they who were indebted to him for conversion might 
regard tliis his service rather as a cause of triumph than of weak lamentation. The prayer which 
he represents himself as putting up in their behalf exemplifies both the fervour of his own affection 
and the sublimity of tlie Gospel. jSTever was the language of devotion employed with a grander 
energy, or with more fulness of meaning ! It is the riches of God's glory which the Apostle takes 
as the measure of his hopes when thinking of believers in the Gospel. The object of his prayer is 
to obtain for them the strength of the Eternal Spirit as the strength of then- own sphit,— as the 
foundation of their being, — as the life of their life. Thus renovated and grounded in essential 
holiness and power, they become capable of a yet higher degree of glory than could be enjoyed 
mdividually, and alone, by any created being. They are prepared for union with the Son of God, 
—for His indwelling in their hearts ; and for this their stQl progressive happiness the Apostle 
prayed ; summing up his petition in the fervent expression of desire, that they might be made sen- 
sible of the vast blessings offered them, and be enabled to join him in thankfulness to the Author 
of their salvation. The glory for which the Gospel prepares us is an everlasting glory. Christ 
would purchase for His people no perishable good; God would not receive his children into the 
mansions of neaven to part with them again. But if the blessing secured for them be one that 
shall endure for ever, who can doubt that the song of thanksgiving ought to be heard in the 
Church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, even world without end ? 
286 



THE SIXTEENTH SVXDAY AFTEE TEIXITY. 



The Gospel. St. Luke vii. 11. 

XD it came to pass the clay after, 
that Jesiis went into a city called 
Xain ; and many of his disciples 
went with him, and much people. 
Xow when he came nigh to the gate 
of the city, behold, there was a dead 
man carried out, the only son of his 
mother, and she was a widow ; and 
much people of the city was with her. And when the 
Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto 
her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier, (and 
they that bare him stood still,) and he said, Young man, 
I say mito thee. Arise. And he that was dead sat up, 
and began to speak : and he delivered him to his mother. 
And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, 
saying. That a great Prophet is risen up among us, and 
that God hath visited his people. And this rumour of 
him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all 
the region round about. 

The Gospel. — Xain vras situated at a short distance from Capernaum, the phice of our Lord's 
most frequent sojouiTi. It is not iniijrobable that He directed His steps towards tliis little cit\- at the 
present moment for the fore-planned jDurpose of performing the miracle here dt- scribed. His rnercv 
was equal to his power. Omnipotence is the parent of love. God is all-loving because He is all- 
powei-ful ; and He is all-powerful because He is all-losing. And Christ declared His Sonship with 
.Jehovah not less by His actions than by His words " God manife.-t in tlie flesh " being the sub- 
lime inscription written on every one of His miracles. The consideration of the great act of His 
power and benevolence here described fills the heart with sentiments of the most tender gratitude. 
A widowed mother — the long years of her affliction solaced by no other comfort than the love of 
an only child — the early years of her sohtude brightened by the hope that he would grow up to be 
a man — her old age owing all its support to him— few objects in the world are more pathetic than 
this; but how much sadder does the picture become when the solitary widow is seen suddenly 
deprived of her sole stay and comfort, and the poor mourner follows to the grave the remains of the 
only one who cared to watch over her infirmities 1 Jesus performed an act of almighty power in 
raising the son of tlie widow of Xain ; but He might have afibrded an equal demonstration of His 
omnipotence by raismg any other dead man : the choice of the object was of the pure free mercy 
which converted His power iuto a foimtaia of grace and life. Tlie repurt of the miracle excited 
for the time attention proportionable to its importance ; but it left no enduring impression on the 
minds of the people, who, though they had exclaimed that a great prophet was risen among them, 
and that God had visited them, yet speedily fell back into their old state of indilference and sen- 
suality. This is one of the many illustrations afforded of the trutli, that the mere knowledge of 
miracles being performed would not secure the conversion of mankind. 




287 



The Seventeerdh Sunday after Trinity. 




1^ 



The Collect. 

ORD, we pray tbee that thy grace 
may ahvays prevent and follow us, 
and make us contmually to be given 
to all good works ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — Prayer, to be effectua], must be consistent with belief. The conformity 
(ji^- - to this principle which may be traced in the Collects, and other parts of our Liturgy, is one 
of the best proofs that can be given of its value and spirituality. Short as is the present 
Collect, it strikingly illustrates this feature of the services. The doctrine of Scripture is 
that " We were dead in trespasses and sins :" that no man can come unto Christ except 
the Father draw him; and that we cannot say that "Jesus is the Christ, except by the Holy 
Ghost."' Hence, not able to begin the work of salvation ourselves, or to originate any of its stages^ 
we pray that Divine grace may prevent, that is, go before, or anticipate us in the work. The help 
to Ijegin being given, we must seek with equal earnestness for power to finish the design; — left 
to ourselves, in eitlier the one stage or the other, Ave perish. Professors of Christianity, when not 
wholly forgetful of their danger, are yet found exposing themselves to many evils from the neglect 
of this precept. Satisfied with the conviction that God's Spirit has been with them, they forget 
that their happiness depends on their retaining Him. 
288 



THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 




The Epistle. Ephes. iv. 1. 

THEREFORE the prisoner of the 
Lord beseech you, that ye walk 



worthy of the vocation wherewith ye 
are called, with all lowliness and 
meekness, with long-suffering, for- 
bearing one another in love ; endea- 
vouring to keep the unity of the spirit 
in the bond of peace. There is one 
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of 
your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God 
and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in 
you all. 

The Gospel. St. Luke xiv. 1. 

T came to pass, as Jesus went into 
the house of one of the chief Phari- 
sees to eat bread on the sabbath-day, 
that they watched him. And be- 
hold, there was a certain man before 
him which had the dropsy. And 
Jesus answering spake unto the 
Lawyers and Pharisees, saying. Is 
it lawful to heal on the sabbath- day? And they held 
their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let 
him go ; and answered them, saying. Which of you shall 
have an ass, or an ox, fallen into a pit, and will not 
straightway pull him out on the sabbath-day ? And they 
could not answer him again to these things. And he put 

The Epistle.— When St. Paul wrote liis Epistle to tlie Epliesians, lie was a prisoner at Rome. 
His affectionate exhortations would come, under such circumstances, with a vast increase of force 
to a believing and thoughtful people. And to what purpose did he employ his influence ? What 
was the exhortation which he pressed upon them with the most earnest zeal ? it was this : tliat 
they might show forth the purity of the Gospel in their lives ;— tliat, having embraced its saving 
doctrmes, they might walls: worthy of their vocation, exhibiting in their conduct the power of their 
Master's example as well as doctrine. The humility and meekness upon which he insists as so 
necessary a proof of conformity to tlje Gospel, are themselves referred to another spiritual argu- 
ment for support. What can pride have to do with a people who are bound together by the grace 
of one Spirit ? How can envy, jealousy, or any other cause of dissension, enter a society, the 
members of which have one common hope — one common interest? 

289 ■ 2 p 




THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he 
marked how they chose out the chief rooms, saying unto 
them. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, 
sit not down in the highest room ; lest a more honourable 
man than thou be bidden of him ; and he that bade thee 
and him come and say to thee. Give this man place ; and 
thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But 
when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room ; 
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, 
Friend, go up higher : then shalt thou have worship in 
the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For 
whosoever exaltetli himself shall be abased ; and he that 
humbletli himself shall be exalted. 

The Gospel. — Oiu- Lord lived constantly in tlie siglit of the world, and of His enemies. He 
literally came unto His own, — leaving nothing undone, or unsaid, which might tend to awaken 
them to a sense of their danger. The miracle which He now performed was w^rought for the pur- 
pose of convincing them, that they ought to regard Him as Lord even of the Sabbath. He bad 
before answered the question, " Who can forgive sin but God only?" by removing the disease 
which, sin remaining, it was believed could not be removed ; and when, on the sabbath, He -pev- 
formed a work which evinced the possession of a divine power, the conclusion of ingenuous minds 
would have been, that He was indeed the Son of God, who had not broken, but had consecrated 
the Sabbath by His mercy. Instead, however, of carrying on an argimient in which the prejudices 
of the hearers would alloAV no room for reason, he turned the stream of rebuke w^hich they would 
gladly have poured upon Him against themselves. The Sabbath could not be violated by acts 
of benevolence ; but the law, and eveiy precept of holiness was, without contradiction, opposed by 
pride and vanity. Of this He now reminded them, and that with a mixture of gentleness and 
keen severity which became a Teacher like Himself, who would not disturb the Sabbath feast by 
any more terrifying discourse, but yet would not leave sin and folly luireproved. His lesson was 
one which, rightly received, extends far beyond the cure of vanity in instances like that to which 
it was first applied. The man w^ho has been taught by wisdom, conscience, and the Gospel, to 
take the lowest place at a feast, will not be easily tempted to foster pride on other occasions ; and 
will be little hkely to think of himself, when in the presence of God, as having merited, by aught 
he has ever done, admission into the kingdom of heaven. It is greatly to be lamented that many 
of the customs of society most fondly adhered to, are not only inconsistent with the spirit, but are 
plainly opposed to the known precepts of the Gospel. The sound, manly sense on which civih- 
zation in these days is supposed to be founded, ought long ago to have made vanity ridiculous, and 
pride intolerable. Christianity must have effected this, had it been received where it is profess- 
edly acknowledged ; but imperfectly as it is admitted, it yet convicts the greater part of mankind 
of gross insincerity. Whatever excuses may be made respecting the difficulties attending divine 
mysteries, — or however charity may be disposed to plead for human infirmit)% yet for the obstinate 
pride of our hearts resisting not a doctrine difficult to be understood, but a plain, clear precept of 
religion, nothing can he pleaded, and the offenders must be left to bear the whole burden of 
ai:)proaching degradation. The consequences attending opposition to the Gospel will not be fully 
known till the system is perfected in the final establishment of unmixed truth and good. It will 
then be seen that a thousand evils have existed in the world, which a simple obedience to the pre- 
cepts of Christ would have blighted in then- first growth ; and that, in these respects, the punish- 
ment, despised because supposed to be far distant, was at the door of every offender. The pre- 
cepts of Christ have a far extending dominion over our fate and condition, but the height and 
depth of His power prevent not its reaching the recesses in which folly and mortality offer to con- 
ceal us. Pride will be punished with signal destruction at the day of judgment; but it has a por- 
tion of its proper reward even here ; and nations, individuals, and cliurches are every year reaping 
a sad harvest of miseries, the seed of which they sowed in their moments of vanity and ostentation. 

290 . ^ 



Tlie Eighteenth Sunday after Trimty, 




The Collect, 

J OED, we beseech thee, grant thy 
people grace to withstand the temp- 
tations of the world, the flesh, and 
the devil, and with pure hearts and 
minds to fohow thee the only God ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

The Collect. — The more we know of the world, of ourselves, and of the Gospel, the 
% more anxions shall we be to obtain an answer to this prayer. Temptation has a threefold 
^ sti-ength ; the world, the flesh, and the devil combine together as having one interest in 
the ruin of our souls. To resist such enemies, how little has reason ever availed ? How poor a 
support have the most learned found in their acquisitions, when the appeals of passion or the 
violence of sorrow had to be resisted by an argTiment di-awn only from books ? But Divine grace 
is always sufficient. The man w^ho professes to have it without enjoying it will find his boasting 
vain ; but he to whom God has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," has a strength 
sufficient for the mightiest proofs of faith and holiness. Purity of heart and mind gives strength 
such as can be derived from no other source ; and this streng-th is exhibited, first, in resistance to 
the enemy, and then in the power of following the Saviour. 

291 



THE EICtHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEB TRINITY. 



The Ejnstle. 1 Cor. i. 4. 

THANK my God always on your 
behalf, for the grace of God which is 
r given yon by Jesus Christ ; that in 
; every thing ye are enriched by him, 
in all utterance, and in all know- 
ledge ; even as the testimony of 
Christ was confirmed in you ; so 
that ye come behind in no gift; 
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be 
blameless in the dav of our Lord Jesus Christ. 




The Gospel St. Matth. xxii. 34, 



HEN the Pharisees had heard that 
Jesus had put the Sadducees to 
silence, they were gathered together. 
Then one of them, who was a Law- 
yer, asked him a Cj[uestion, tempting 
him, and saying, ]\Iaster, which is 
the gretat commandment in the Law ? 
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 




The Epistle. — Few better proofs of holiness can be given tlian tliankfuhiess of heart for tlie 
increasiug faith of others. In this, our freedom from selfishness admits not of suspicion ; and 
while our affection for those to whom the sentiment refers is of the noblest kind, so also is the 
cherishing of snch a feeling one of the most acceptable offerings which we can make to God. 
Tlie Apostle pours forth liis tlianks because the Colossians were enriched by Christ, " m all utter- 
ance and in all knowledge f that they were deficient in no gift; and that they waited for the 
coming of Chi-ist to confirm them unto the end. And to these objects ought the disciples of the 
Saviour, in every age, so to direct each other's attention, that they may have frequent occasion to 
ofier up a prayer of thanksgiving similar to that of the Apostle. That such is not the case must 
be attributed to the fearful disregard of which the majority of Christians are guilty in respect to 
the essential doctrines of their religion. Fra-getting its spiritual demands, they remain contented 
with the knowledge of the letter ; and still, as if no Gospel existed, depend for justification on 
their fre'?dom from reproach in the world. Blinded by these inadecpate notions of religion, they 
feel little anxiety al)ont growth ia grace, or the increase of faith. To them the language of the 
Apostle's prayer is a language to be interpreted only by the liistory of the past— not by the expe- 
rience of thf- [irLsent, or the example of livmg men. They never suppose that it can be made 
applicable to tlieir own crisc ; and their incredulity would be as great with regard to all others, 
were not their indifference at all times ecpial to their disbelief. 

292 



THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TPJNITY. 



sou], and Avitli all thy mind. This is the first and great 
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou 
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two com- 
mandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. While 
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 
sapng, A^Tiat think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ? They 
say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, 
How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying. The 
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I 
make thine enemies thy foot-stool ? If David then call 
him Lord, how is he his Son ? And no man was able to 
answer him a word ; neither dm'st any man fi'om that day 
forth ask him any more questions. 

The Gospel. — Oiir Lord had no sooner silenced the Sadducees on the snbject of the resiuTec- 
tion, than He engaged in another dispute -^ith tlie Pharisees. The nature of the law properly 
occupied the attention of the Scribes, and no question could have been asked on points connected 
with its interpretation to which our Lord would have been unv/illing to give an answer. The 
love of God and of our neighbom embraces every particular of duty in its luminous circuit ; and 
Wisdom is justified of her children wlien they adopt this interpretation, that love is the fnlfilh'ng 
of the law. But Jesus would not allow the Pharisees to dejjart without obhging them to make a 
tacit confession of their ignorance on a point which ought to have been long before determined 
according to the light of the holy Spirit. The Messiah was to be the Son of David, yet David 
ages before He appeared addi'essed Him as his Lord. How could this be? No answer was found 
to such a question in the dogmas of the sects newly sprung up. However fond of mysticism 
many of them had become, they were blind to the true mysteries of religion ; and illustrated what 
has so often since been shown, that the love of mysticism, and the devout belief in a mysteiy, are 
as opposed to each other as the murky obscurity of an unhealthy night, to the deep and hnpene- 
trable, yet lustrous, darkness of the vaulted heavens. Had the Pharisees duly considered the ex- 
pression of the Psalmist, and compared it with other passages of corresponding import in the 
prophets, they would nnt have been silenced by the question, but accepting it as a clue to the 
unravelling of many hitherto hidden truths, would have rejoicingly acknowledged the Immannel, 
" God in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."' Our Lord had now been strictly questioned 
on the two main branches of religion, as contemplated under the most extensive meaning of the 
term. The practical part consists of duties divided between God ami om neighbour ; and the 
more carefully we incjuire into the foundation of these duties, or the more anxious we may be to 
find reasons for their performance, the more clearly shall we discover that the answer given by 
Jesus was that which the most practical of moralists might the most wisely give. He had an- 
swered well, therefore, in this part of the discussion, for a discussion it was, though desultor}', 
carried on between Him and the learned of His countrymen. The other branch of the subject 
was now to be taken up ; and here He was the questionist. To the Jews had been committed the 
oracles of God. They possessed the gTand volume of prophecy, full and complete ; and from its 
pages, rich in various revelations, might be gathered whatever was necessary to the satisfactory 
answer of any just inquiry. He had replied to the questions of His antagonists in a manner which 
left them no room to complain ; and He had, therefore, an ample right to expect a fair and candid 
answer to His own inquiry. This was not cUsputed; but no reply was given, and thus, to tl^e 
end, the half of the subject debated upon remained without a fan examination. The Jews, how- 
ever, felt they were defeated in the argument; and, as is often the case in other disputes, to rid 
themselves of the danger of being humbled by a confession of error, they resolved on the de- 
struction of Him by whom they had been silenced. If it may be implied that he speaks the truth 
who acts and sutfers as the speakers of truth usually do, we have here a strong incidental proof 
that the Gospel is of God. 

293 



The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity > 




The Collect. 
GOD, forasmucli as without thee we 
are not able to please thee; Mer- 
cifully grant, that thy Holy Spirit 
may in all things direct and rule our 
hearts ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — If God cannot be believed in till He is known, neither can He be wor- 
shipped in a true and spiritual manner till we feel the comfort of His presence. Assured 
of His goodness, and perceiving the perfect beauty of the law by which He governs us, the 
first desire of such a believer will be, that there may be notljing in him contrary to the 
designs or to the nature of his God. To such a one the Holy Spirit is the chief good. The 
principles of his being demand the nourishment which the world cannot give, and the rule of his 
conduct being deteimined by the will of God, Divine grace is not less essential to his happiness 
than food to the support of his natural existence. 

The Epistle.— Consistency is the virtue of good and great minds ; and, while they possess it 
themselves, they are desirous that it may be enjoyed by others, as the foundation of many excel- 
lent qualities, and necessary to the due exemplification of all. The Christian has been brought 
fiom tlie kingdr^m of dnrkuess to that of light and holiness. He cannot, therefore, without the 
violation of every profession which he makes, continue to walk, like the world which he is supposed 
to have left, in folly and sensuality. Clnist, truly learned, is the body and soul of holiness to the 
new man, " which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness."' Hence for a Christian 

294 



THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTEE TKINITY, 



The Ejjistle. Eplies, iv. 17, 

HIS I say therefore, and testify in 
the Lord, that ye henceforth walk 
not as other Gentiles walk, in the 
vanity of their mind ; havrng the un- 
derstanding darkened, being alien- 
ated from the life of God through 
the ignorance that is in them, be- 
canse of the blindness of their heart ; 
who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto 
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 
But ye have not so learned Christ ; if so be that ye have 
heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is 
in Jesus : that ye put off, concerning the former conver- 
sation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the 
deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which after God 
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, 
putting away lying, speak every man truth mth his neigh- 
bour : for we are members one of another. Be ye angry 
and sin not : let not the sun go down upon your wrath : 
neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal 
no more; but rather let him labour, working with his 
hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give 
to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication pro- 
ceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use 
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are 
sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and 
wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put 
away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to 

to be consistent,— for one who believes the Gospel not to contradict himself, or violate the law 
which even the world allows to be necessary to all dignity of character — he must be pure from 
ofience ; his conversation exhibiting purity and sincerity of heart, and his hrmiility and forgiving- 
ness illustrating, as strongly as his professions, liis love of Christ, and his admiration of His 
character. To act in a different spirit is to destroy every hope tliat the Gospel gives. The paths 
of sin and folly can never lead to the gates of heaven ; — the vanity of a darkened understanding 
can never produce the graces without which no one shall see God ! 

295 




THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TEINITY. 



another, tender-hearted, forgivmg one another 
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 



even as 




The Gospel, St. Matth. ix. 1. 

ESUS entered into a ship, and 
^ passed over, and came into his own 
city. And behold, they brought to 
him a man sick of the palsy, lying on 
a bed. And Jesus seeing their taith, 
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, 
be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven 
thee. And behold, certain of the 
scribes said within themselves. This man blasphemeth. 
And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think 
ye evil in your hearts ? For whether is easier to say. Thy 
sins be forgiven thee ? or to say, Arise, and waUv ? But 
that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on 
earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the 
palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 
And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the 
multitude saw it, they marveUed, and glorified God, who 
had given such power unto men. 

The Gospel. — A vast }x)dy of instruction is conveyed in the account of tliis miracle, It was 
the faith of those who brought the sick man that attracted the notice, and secured the assistance, 
of Jesus. Helpless himself, the palsy-stricken sntferer owed the means of redief to liis kind and 
believing friends. Had they not brouglit him to the Saviour, he wuuld have remained to the end 
of his days the miserable subject of an incurable dijeasc. Hence the thoughtful and afft-ctiouate 
mind derives one of its happiest encouragements to iLdjuur for the salvation of others. We are 
struck, in the next place, with the salutati-.n which Christ addressed to the object of His com- 
passion : — " Son, be of good clieer, tliy sins be forgiven thee !" The mere word might have been 
sjwken by any one: but the word of Chri>t was with power,"' and the effect which followed its 
utterance proved His right to employ it. We might liavc >u[iii' -1 that, however great the pre- 
judices of the Scribes and Pharisees, tln-y would scarcely have l^een excited liy the benevolent 
address of Jesus to one so poor and altiii te 1. He expressed feedings which were calculated to 
awaken the most tender sympathies of the hiiiijan heart. Sin had broug]it him under the power 
of disease. Eveiy Jew believed that sicknt - v. ;, - iijiuieiliate |.uni.dirnent nf >in. Our Lord'.- 
words, if not recognized as those of a Being })o;.-L5.-ed ut almi-hty powti, migld have been taken 
as a pi- y, r r-.thcr than as blaspliemy. They were utter. -d with coiripo>^iuiiutc' earnestness; and, 
however r.. g:\rdcd, could not Inv.- i r^vuked so angry a feeling had not hate and jtal"U>y watched 
wlnit-ever He did or said. ■ given was as noble as it was complete. G'"l - 'nly. it i- tiiie, 

Ciin forgive\sins ; andtlied- ^ .. eciiitenijilatrd a- tlie effect of sin can ouly lie leinoved by 
tlic pardon of the guilt in whicii it original 1. i;. i id, it i- icdien away I and what ought to Ix; 
the immediate conclusion in the minds of the .-peciaiLro 

296 



The Twentieth Sunday 



after Trinity. 





The Collect. 

ALMIGHTY and most 
merciful God, of thy 
bountiful goodness keep 
us, we beseech thee, 
from all things that may 
hurt us ; that we, being 
ready both in body and 
soul, may cheerfully accomplish those 
things tliat thou wouldest have done ; 
throup'h Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 



The Collect.— It is our liumble desire to be able to do Gods will, 
but obstacles oppose us at every step. At one time anxieties of a 
worldly character agitate and oppress our hearts — at another, thoughts 
full of sadness, generated we know not whence, occupy the mind. 
When free from sorrows which come and go according to the state of 
our feelings, real calamities or dangers may be ready to assail us ; 
and then our time and energies are wholly taken up with making an 
imperfect defence against the inroads of temporal care. In this con- 
dition, God s service goes unperformed. Well, then, may we pray 
for that help which the goodness of God only can bestow, and which 
removing worldly anxiety, may leave us ready to do his will with 
tite and ju} ful hearts. It is the part of a spiritual mind to be desirous above all things of pur- 
suing the hrsi ends of existence. But these have been determined by the wisdom of God ; and 
the rules whereby they are to be sought form the sublime code of laws which He has given to 
His people. It is not, however, in the strength of human resolution, or in the clear perception ot 
what is good and right, that we find the power ^vhich our will requbesfor putting its determina- 
tions into practice. We may have long understood the truth and equity of God's law, and have 
learned to feel that the paths of holiness are those of peace, and yet have made no progress in the 
actual work of salvation, or in the realization of the views which we believe to be essential to our 
happiness. The prayer which asks for freedom, " from all things that may hurt us," regards not 
only the hinderances which come from without, but those also which have their chief noinrishment 
from our own hearts ; those which, being left there, are continually keeping us back, when, so far 
as behef is concerned, we would willingly go forward. Let us be made " ready both in body and 
soul to do God's will, by the removal of inward weaknesses and distractions ; let the healthy 
activity of our spiritual affections correspond to the determinations of reason, and we shall then find 
ourselves carried forward by impulses far mightier in their force than any of those derived from 
the early conclusions of our minds. Man can do nothing long or well, which he does not do cheer- 
fully. To accomplish the things which God would have us perform, we need invigorating grace ! 
and the main cause at all times of our coldness in fulfilling His designs, is the want of that spirit 
of love which can alone make dutv and obedience I'oyful 
297 



2 Q 



THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle. Ephes. v. 15. 



EE then that ye walk eh'cumspectly, 
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming 
the time, because the days are e^dl. 
AA^ierefore be ye not unwise, but 
understanding what the will of the 
Lord is. And be not drunk with 
wine, wherein is excess ; but be filled 
wdth the Spirit ; speaking to your- 
selves in psahns, and hymns, and spiritual songs ; sing- 
ing and making melody in your heart to the Lord ; giving 
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in 
the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; submitting your- 
selves one to another in the fear of God. 




The Gospel. St. Matth. xxii. 1. 

ESUS said, The Kingdom of heaven 
is like unto a certain king, who 
made a marriage for his son ; and 
sent forth his servants to call them 
that were bidden to the wedding ; 
and they would not come. Again, 
he sent forth other servants, saying. 
Tell them which are bidden. Behold, 
I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are 
killed, and all things are ready ; come unto the marriage. 
But they made hght of it, and went their ways, one to his 

The Epistle.— The promises of the Gospel are calculated to inspire the mind with a happy 
anticipation of future gloiy. Not less adapted are the doctrines of grace to give confidence to the 
mind when feeling itself recovering from the sorrows and degradation of sin. But while the know- 
ledge of these things have produced in many souls a holy tranquillity — a gratitude to God which 
manifested itself in acts of persevering piety — the result in others has been an overweening con- 
fidence, which, long indulged in, has led at length to all the evils of forgetfulness and negligence. 
Against such a danger the Apostle here warns the followers of Christ. Circumspection is tJieir 
duty at all times. The perils which they see are not the only perils which they have to fear. In 
every state, sobriety, the rejoicing whicli has its rise in the habitual praise of God, and humility, 
are our best safeguards. They keep the mind wotchful without leaving it to be depressed with 
care, and raise it to heaven without allowing it to forget that it has many and powerful enemies 
on earth. 

298 




THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



farm, another to his merchandise : and the remnant took 
his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 
But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth ; and he sent 
forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burnt 
up then city. Then saith he to his servants. The wedding 
is ready, but they who were bidden were not w^orthy. Go 
ye therefore into the high-ways, and as many as ye shall 
find bid to the marriage. So those servants went out 
into the high-ways, and gathered together all, as many as 
they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was 
furnished with guests. And when the king came in to 
see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a 
wedding-garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how 
camest thou in hither, not having a wedding-garment? 
And he was speechless. Then said the king to the ser- 
vants. Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and 
cast him into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are 
chosen. 

The Gospel. — This beautiful parable, though in its first and most literal application referring 
to the rejection of Christ by the Jews, and the subsequent calling of the Gentiles, may properly be 
regarded as admitting of a more general interpretation, and as applicable to[the case both of other 
nations and of individuals. When the Gospel is preached to a people, and they are furnished with 
all the means of grace, according to the tenor of the JiTew Covenant, they are placed, in many of 
the most important respects, in the same situation as was the nation elected of old to be sacred to 
God and to holiness. As the Almighty Father continues to raise up successive teachers of the 
divine word, bestowing, from time to time, larger supplies of light, making mysteries clearer, and 
the approaching completion of His promise more evident, the people so favom-ed, are invited, by a 
repetition of the original call, to partake in the marriage supper of the king's son. The actual 
acceptance of this invitation can only be proved by a steady advancement in holiness, — by the 
growth of national and social virtues, — by the increasing tendency of the laws to rest on the truth 
of things, — and by the grander aims of both rulers and people to advance the interests of humanity, 
and the cause of God. "When these signs of progressive holiness are not to be discerned in a 
nation, it is, at least, in a state of perilous doubt. We see it debating whether it shall throw itself 
back into the arms of sin and barbarity, or retain in its possession the ark of God's law and the 
mercy-seat. The application of the parable to individual cases is rendered direct and solemnly 
impressive by the singling out of one dark-minded and thoughtless victim to the power of iniquity. 
It would be well for every Christian, living in and as the world, often to ask himself, " Had not 
Christ His eye on me when He described this man ?" In the plain announcement that " many 
are called, but few are chosen," God's mercy, and the sin and folly of mankind, are placed in 
striking contrast. Divine love, solicitous for the salvation of the world, summons multitude after 
multitude to partake in the means of grace. The calling of the many is the pm-e effect of mercy ; 
and, with its rejection, neither the justice nor any other attribute of the Almighty can be changed. 
In this man only is concerned ; the grace which calls would choose, but the obstinate love of sin 
sets at nought the riches of God's goodness. 



299 



The Twenty -first Sunday after Trinity, 




The Collect. 

RANT, we beseech thee, merciful 
Lord, to thy faithful people pardon 
and peace, that they may be cleansed 
from all their sins, and serve thee 
with a quiet mind; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen, 



The Collect. — We ask for many things in this short prayer witliout which our en- 
deavours after good would be utterly vain and worthless. God s most faithful people have 
need to pray for pardon. Of this they are the more deeply conscious the more they advance 
V in the knowledge of spiritual religion. The enjoyment of peace depends upon their feeling 
that pardon has been obtained. In the same manner there are two other petitions linked 
together : the one for the cleansing away of sin by grace and the blood of tlie atonement ; the other 
depending on this, that they who are so purified may be able to peiform the service of Christ with 
tranquil minds and spirits. The value of tlie blessings thus sought for is unappreciated by the 
world, and can never be known till tlieir influence on the heart have been deeply felt. But if in 
any case we believe our fellow men, why should we doubt the testimony of those who bear 
witness to the happy eftects of holiness ? Why refuse to be persuaded by the best and wisest of 
our race ? 

300 



THE TWENTY-FIEST SUNDAY AFTEK TRINITY. 



The Epistle. Ephes. vi. 10. 




Y brethren, be strong in the Lord, 
and in the power of his might. Put 
on the whole armour of God, that 
ye may be able to stand against the 
wiles of the devil. For w^e wrestle 
not against flesh and blood, but 
against principalities, against powers, 
against the rulers of the darkness 
of this \7orld, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that 
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having 
done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins 
girt about with truth ; and having on the breast-plate of 
righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation 
of the Gospel of peace ; above all, taking the shield of 
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery 
darts of the wicked; and take the helmet of salvation, 
and the sw^ord of the Spirit, which is the Word of God : 
pra}ing always with all prayer and supplication in the 
Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and 
supplication for all saints ; and for me, that utterance 
may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, 
to make know^n the mystery of the Gospel, for which I 
am an ambassador in bonds ; that therein I may speak 
boldly, as I ought to speak. 



The Epistle. — This noble sj)ecimen of Apostolic eloquence contains an exhortation which ought 
to awaken us to a new sense of the advantages of Christ's religion. Poor and weak as we are by- 
nature, the glory of divine riches is offered us ; — the trembling heart is presented with an armour 
brighter than the panoply of the most famous hero, and weapons are put into our hands of purer 
temper than any forged in the brightest tires of genius. The exhortation involves an offer and a 
promise : — " Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." The strength of the Lord 
may be ours, if we are willing to make it our strength. " Put on the whole armour of God the 
whole armom- with the sword and the shield, is at hand, if we are ready to clothe ourselves in it as 
our defence. We are not, in this matter, however, simply to consider whether we choose to prepai'e 
ourselves for a contest or not ; but whether we prefer meeting a powerful enemy with or without 
armour. He will certainly, in either case, come against us in the full strength of his wrath ; and 
woe be to those who, in their folly, attempt to resist him in their unsheltered weakness ! In every 
other struggle we are anxious to gain assistance, — to make ourselves as secure as the natme of the 
contest will allow. How unreasonable, that in a strife where our very being is in jeopardy, we 
should care so little about the means of safety ! 

301 



THE TWENTY-FIEST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



The Gospel. St. John iv. 46. 




HERE was a certain nobleman, 
whose son was sick at Capernaum. 
When he heard that Jesus was come 
out of Jud£ea into Galilee, he went 
unto him, and besought him that he 
would come down and heal his son ; 
for he was at the point of death. 
Then said Jesus unto him. Except 
ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The noble- 
man saith unto him. Sir, come down ere my child die. 
Jesus saith unto him. Go thy way, thy son liveth. And 
the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto 
him, and he went his way. And, as he was now going 
down, his servants met him, and told him, saying. Thy 
son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he 
began to amend : and they said unto him, Yesterday at 
the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew 
that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto 
him. Thy son liveth ; and himself believed, and his whole 
house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did 
when he was come out of Judasa into Galilee. 



The Gospel. — There is great beauty iu this simple narrative. Jesus was well known at Caper- 
naum; and the nobleman here mentioned was probably one of the few who gave heed to His 
words. His absence at Jerusalem prevented the afflicted father from appealing to His mercy at 
the beginning of the child's illness ; and it is easy to imagine with how much of painful anxiety 
His return must have been looked for by the nobleman. First one, and then another, physician has 
failed in his attempt to stop the progress of the disorder. It increases every hour ; and the life of 
the beloved child hangs upon a thread. Oh ! where now is Jesus ? Has any one from Jerusalem 
brought tidings of Him ? Is He on His way back ; or does He still journey on, seeking the dis- 
persed among the Gentiles ? In the midst of these anxious inquiries, tidings are brought that 
J esus had been seen on the road to Capernaum. Not a moment is to be lost. The child every 
minute draws his breath with more difficulty. Would that Jesus were here by his bed-side to 
j)ronounce the blessing which had so often availed to the recovering of the dying ! He comes not 
with the speed which answers to the quick beating of the father's heart. Though near Capernaum, 
He is not, it is supposed, near enough to render the desired relief. • At the instant, tlierefore, when 
all hope was departing but that which attached itself to the name of Jesus, the despairing parent 
rushes forth, and takes the path which he was told would lead him to the humane and all-powerful 
Prophet. His first words on meeting Jesus are those which Nature prompted : — " Come down 
ere my child die." Jesus takes but time to allude to the unbelief which rendered miracles 
necessary as a proof of His divinity,— allows the father to repeat the entreaty, and pronounces tlie 
child cured. Blessed Lord ! — who that has those about whom he thinks with the dee]? anxiety of 
love would not have Thee for his Friend and Saviour ? 

302 



The Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity. 



^ WTeIVIENE TEKEL UPHARS 




OED, we beseech thee to keep thy 
household the Church in continual 
godliness ; that through thy protec- 
tion it may be free from all adver- 
sities, and devoutly given to serve 
thee in good works, to the glory of 
thy Name ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — Godliness has the promise of both present and future good. The former 
good consists in tlie means of grace, in the protection and manifestations of love which are 
bestowed by the Divine Spirit, with such measures of natural enjoyment as are best calcu- 
lated to cherish coutidence in God's mercy. The latter will be good, not in relation to the future, 
but in itself, and in the perfect satisfaction which it is fitted to bestow at the moment of possession. 
Kept in continual godliness, the Church of Christ can have nothing to fear ; for it has around it 
the arm of God, and it rests on the foundation which can never be shaken. It has ample reason, 
therefore, to pray that it may be preserved in the uniform practice of divine graces, seeing that on 
this its holiness of state and action depends the hope of fredom from adversity, and the power to 
glorify its great Founder and Benefactor. 

The Epistle. — The Apostle here congratulates the Philippians on their steadfast adherence to 
the faith which fee had taught them. He takes, as the foundation of his joy, the comforting 
principle, that " the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." He was confident that the 
beneficent Being who had "begun a good work in them would perform it until the day of Jesus 
Christ ;■' and this his trust was daily sti-engthened by the tidings brought hmi of the affectionate 
union which existed among his converts ; of the tender regard paid to his exhortations ; and their 
general growth in zeal and holiness. His prayer for their increase in grace refers to all tlie main 

303 



THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



The Ejjistle. Phil. i. 3. 

THANK my God npon every re- 
membrance of you, (always in every 
prayer of mine for you all making 
request with joy,) for your fellowship 
in the Gospel from the first day 
until now; being confident of this 
very thing, that he who hath begun 
a good work in you mil perform it 
until the day of Jesus Christ ; even as it is meet for me 
to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, 
inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and 
confirmation of the Gospel, ye all are partakers of my 
grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after 
you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, 
that your love may abound yet more and more in know- 
ledge, and in all judgement : that ye may approve things 
that are excellent, that ye may be sincere, and without 
offence, till the day of Christ : being filled with the fruits 
of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the 
glory and praise of God. 

The Gospel, St. Mattli. xviii. 21. 

ETEK said unto Jesus, Lord, how 
oft shall my brother sui against me, 
and I forgive him ? till seven times ? 
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto 
thee, until seven times ; but until 
seventy times seven. Therefore is 
the Kingdom of heaven likened unto 
a certain king, which would take 
account of his servants. And when he had begun to 

qiialificafions of Evangelical faith. Love, Avithout a corresponding degree of knowledge and judg- 
ment, might incline to entliusiasm, productive of no fruit ; and sincerity and freedom from offence 
are tlien hest secin-ed when whatever is excellent obtains the clear and nnaffected approval of an 
understanding that is sound as well as sanctified. For these and all sucli things the Apostle prays 
in behalf of liis converts. He asks for them as fruits of righteousness, — as springing from Christ's 
life-giving Spirit, quickening the heart ; and as offerings to the glory of the heavenly Father. 

304 





THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten 
thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, 
his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and 
children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 
The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, 
saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee 
all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with com- 
passion, and loosed him, and forgaVe him the debt. But 
the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow- 
servants, which owed him an hundred pence ; and he laid 
hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay 
me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at 
his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with 
me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not ; but 
went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 
So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were 
very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was 
done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said 
unto him, thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that 
debt, because thou desiredst me : shouldest not thou also 
have had compassion on thy fellow- servant, even as I had 
pity on thee ? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him 
to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto 
him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto 
you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his 
brother their trespasses. 

The Gospel. — There is no greater instance of tl.e folly as well as cruelty of mankind than the 
indisposition whicli prevails in tlie human heart to forgive offences. Christianity is founded on a 
basis which would not shake rmder the weight of civilization, were it, with its whole system of laws, 
rights, and fashions, ten thousand times weightier than it is. Its blessed Author did not forget 
the necessities of the world as it at present exists ; nor had He any desire to expose His people to 
the wanton attacks of rapine and mjustice, when no advantage could be gained thereby, either 
to the Church or to His kingdom. We may be sure, therefore, that His precepts are practicable, 
without any violation of good and wholesome rules of government, discipline, or self-protection. 
This being acknowledged, the precept here inculcated must be received not only as demanding 
obedience, but as one which may be safely followed. Provision is made by the law of God Him- 
self for the pum'shment of offenders against personal secimty, or the security of property. Their 
acquittal comes not witliin the range of private authority or judgment. Our Lord, tlierefore, it 
may safely be presumed, did not intend to teach His disciples that they were indiscriminately to 
pardon offences in siich manner as to allow of evil-doers escaping the just punishment of their 
deeds. But by far the greater number of otfences, or supposed otiences, which produce so much 
distress in society, and so much injury to religion, are such as it does come with the province of 
individuals to pardon. The injurj^ in these cases ends with tlie person ; and pertains not, like 

305 ^ 2 E 



The Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. 




1> 



The Collect. 

GOD, our refuge and strength, who 
art the author of all godlmess ] Be 
ready, we beseech thee, to hear the 
devout prayers of thy Church ; and 
grant that those thmgs which we 
ask faithfully we may obtain effec- 
tually ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 




those wliicli the law takes up, to the state, or mankind in their collective cajDacity, And 
wherever it is ourselves only that are concerned, be the olfence against some personal in- 
terest,— against our pride or our vanity — there we must forgive until seventy times seven, 
that is, as often as there may be occasion for the exercise of this act of brotlierly mercy. The 
argument which our Lord uses to establish His precept is one of great force and pathos. God 
has forgiven you. He says to every one of us, and forgiven you more sins than you can number, 
but for eveiy one of which you deserved death ;— will you, knowing this, refuse to forgive one 
who has trespassed against you with not a thousandth- part of the ingratitude which signalizes 
your offences against Heaven? 

The Collect. — The people of God seek Him in prayer because they know Him to be their 
refuge and strength — theii- protection and shelter, that is, when calamity invades them; and the 
arm of an invincible power when, bound together in the unity of the Spirit, they go forth to 
meet tlif enemy in open conflict. To ask with a sincere and believing heart is the surest of all 
met]i' "l- f' j ■-I'tiiiuiiig an effectual answer to prayer. Faithfulness includes trust, devotion, and a 
holy iL-iLMiatiori to (jod's will, making up the character of righteousness for whicli there is an 
especial assurance, that it " availeth much " in prayer. 

306 



THE TWENTY-THIKD SUNDAY AFTEK TEINITY. 



The Epistle, Phil. iii. 17. 

RETHREN, be fohowers together 
of me, and mark them which walk 
so as ye have us for an ensample. 
(For many walk, of whom T have 
told you often, and now tell you 
even weeping, that they are the ene- 
mies of the cross of Christ; whose 
end is destruction, whose god is 
their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind 
earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven ; from 
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
Christ ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be 
fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the 
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto 
himself 

The Gospel. St. Matth. xxii. 15. 

HEN went the Pharisees and took 
counsel how they might entangle 
him in his talk. And they sent out 
unto him their disciples, with the 
Herodians, saying. Master, we know 
that thou art true, and teachest the 
way of God in truth, neither carest 
thou for any man : for thou re- 
gardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, what 

The Epistle. — St. Paul knew that he had devoted himself both in heart and spirit to the ser- 
vice of Christ. Nothing in him had remained unchanged by that divine gi-ace to which he was 
indebted for his conversion. The hfe which he led exemplified the power of that grace : it was 
pure and simple, — abounding in labour, and characterized by a succession of the most painful in- 
stances of self-denial. To him, therefore, it might well be allowed to say, " Walk as ye have us 
for an ensample and this the more freely when it was everywhere known, that the persons with 
whom he stood in contrast were distinguished for their gross indulgence in the worst species of 
selfishness and low sensuality. But the Apostle did not fail to give a stronger reason for this 
appeal to his actions than that which might be found in their being contrasted favourably with 
those of others. The glory of the men respecting whom he spoke " was in their shame while 
the avowed and known support of his own conduct was the communion which he held with Heaven, 
and the constant hope that in due time he should behold the manifestation of his Saviour's glory, 
307 





THE TWENTY-THIKD SUNDAY AFTEE TKINITY. 



tliinkest thou ? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, 
or not ? But J esus perceived their wickedness, and said, 
Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? show me the tribute- 
money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he 
saith unto them. Whose is this image and superscription ? 
They say unto him Cesar's. Then saith he unto them. 
Render therefore unto Cgesar the things which are Cesar's ; 
and unto God the thmgs that are God's. When they had 
heard these words they marvelled, and left him, and went 
their way. 

when his corruptible frame would be made susceptible of the eternal beauty which invests the 
angels of God ; and he should perceive in this his changed condition the working of Christ's 
power, which is destined to subdue all things into conformity with His own glorious perfections. 

The GrOSPEL. — Could the enemies of Christ have detected Him in the assertion of any error, the 
conclusion would have been immediately, and legitimately, drawn, that He was not what He pre- 
tended to be — the Messiah, and the Son of God. But on no occasion did the subtle disputants 
employed against Him succeed in this attempt . He was always prepared with an answer which 
refuted and shamed them. Foiled in their hopes of entangling Him in the meshes of some un- 
considered argument, they next attempted to draw Him into the expression of sentiments which, 
though true, and even laudable, might help tliem in exposing Him to the resentment of their 
rulers. The situation in which the nation was then placed gave great promise of success to this 
plan of proceeding. Jealousy is the natural quality of those who rule by right of conquest ; and 
the Romans had ample reason to dread the proud and artful character of the Jews. The question 
put to Jesus would have been answered, it is probable, by any one else, so as to have involved the 
crime of treason either against the Romans or against the liberties of the nation. But tlie divine 
wisdom of our. Lord enabled Him to avoid both these dangers. His answer could not offend the 
Romans, nor, properly considered, was it injmious to His own countrymen ; for they had long 
submitted to the conquerors, and the tribute which they paid was become a tax, by the regular 
discharge of which they secured their present repose and comjjarative prosperity. To have re- 
fused to pay the tribute under these circumstances would have been both unwise and unjust. 
This, it is evident, was acknowledged by a large portion of the nation ; and our Lord could inciu' 
no charge of want of patriotism by saying unto them, " Render unto Osesar the things which are 
Caesar's."' But he forcibly reminded tliem at the same moment, and the precept must have been 
the more felt by the contrast, that while they were disputing about Ceesar, they were forgetting 
God ; and thereby exposing themselves to a slavery which would be infinitely worse than that to 
which they were now subjected. The feeling with which He regarded their inquiry, is forcibly 
shown in the question, "Why tempt me, ye hypocrites?" Had they been scrupulous because 
strictly holy, or anxious not to do wrong in tliis matter, because they had hitherto observed 
every law of their religion with strict fidelity, they might have asked this or any other question 
of Christ, with the certainty of receiving a kind and satisfactory reply. But they were notorious 
for having violated the most important rules of sanctity, — for having committed offences which 
could be excused by none of the sophistical arguments ordinarily urged in their defence. That 
the leaders of such a people should inquire what it was their duty to do in a nice question of 
political morality, was only to atFord fresh evidence of their hypocrisy and hardness of heart. 
They no more desired to know what they ought to do in this respect, than they were willing to 
do what was plainly their duty in other things. Their simple object was to ruin a Teacher wlio 
spoke the truth too plainly, and who, in the penetj-ating eye which He fixed on their hypocrisy, 
manifested that attribute of divinity which they were least of all likely to endure. Late as was 
the hour, liow many centuries of sorrow might have been spared the nation, had these its loaders 
been willing to listen to the words of Christ ! " Will a man rob God ?" was the question of one 
of their })r;)[)lielft. TJiey liad robbed Hinj, and were now asking whether they might rob Cicsar 
also. 

308 



llie Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, 




The Collect. 

LOKD, we beseech thee, absolve 
thy people from their offences ; that 
through thy bountiful goodness we 
may all be delivered from the bands 
of those sins, which by our frailty 
we have committed : Grant this, O 
heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed 
Lord and Saviour. Amen. 



The Collect.— Sin weaves fetters which press more fearfully on the human soul than 
any ever yet forged by men have afflicted the body. A prisoner, who lias lain so long in his dreary 
dungeon that the senses are scarcely awake to the misery Nvhich oppresses him, is surely not tlie 
less certainly in captivity because he is hardly alive to his wretcliedness. Mankind wear the 
heavy chains of sin, and complain not because they are rendered insensible by its deadening in- 
fluence. As soon as Divine grace makes them aware of their condition, then they begin to^'cry, 
" Deliver us from the bands of our sins." But in proportion to the desire of escape, will be the 
readiness of the suppliant to employ the surest means of deliverance. He will spend little time 
in speculation as to which is the best mode of proceeding, when one certain path to liberty is 
opened for him by the bountifid goodness .and the almighty power of God 
309 



THE TWENTY-FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE TEINITY. 



The Epistle, Col. i. 3. 

E give thanks to God and the Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying 
ahvays for you, since we heard of 
your faith in Christ Jesus, and of 
the love which ye have to all the 
saints; for the hope which is laid 
up for you in heaven, whereof ye 
heard before in the word of the 
truth of the Gospel *, which is come unto you, as it is in 
all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in 
you, since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of 
God in truth. As ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear 
fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ ; 
who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For 
this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease 
to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with 
the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual un- 
derstanding ; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto 
all pleasing, being fi'uitful in every good work, and in- 
creasing in the knowledge of God ; strengthened with all 
might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience 
and long-suffering with jo}^ulness ; giving thanks unto the 
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the 
inheritance of the saints in light. 

The Epistle. — It is' worthy of observation, that the Apostle has no sooner given thanks for the 
Colossian converts, than he passes on to an expression of earnest prayer in theii' behalf. The 
cause of his thankfulness was their faith in Christ Jesus ; their love to the Saints ; and the hope 
which, seeing their fidelity to the Gospel, he knew was laid up for them in heaven. They had 
become valuable in his eyes in proportion to their holiness of disposition ; and he asked for them 
of God the things which were most precious to his own devout and comprehensive mind. The 
knowledge of God's will, "in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,"' was the first blessing in 
liis catalogue of heavenly gifts ; tJie next was, that this knowledge might be seen working in 
them as a new principle of life ; and carrying them forward as the servants of Christ, proving 
more and more the efficacy of his grace. A beautiful and fatherly prayer : such a one as enables 
us to see in the divinely-polished mirror of Christian love the image of Christ himself. But the 
Apostle does not end with supplication; he adds thanksgiving to his prayer, and it may be ob- 
served, that any kind of petition offered to God implies the duty of much and hearty thankful- 
ness. It is an instance of profound mercy that we are permitted to approach Him with our sup- 
plication—of still profounder goodness, that He gives us the promise of an answer to every 
prayer oflered up in a filial and trusting spirit. 

310 




THE TWENTY-FOUETH SUNDAY AETEK TKINITY. 



The Gospel St. Mattli. ix. 18. 

HILE Jesus spake these things unto 
John's disciples, behold, there came 
a certain ruler, and worshipped him, 
saying. My daughter is even now 
dead; but come and lay thy hand 
upon her, and she shall live. And 
Jesus arose and followed him, and 
so did his disciples. (And behold, 
a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood 
twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem 
of his garment •, for she said within herself. If I may 
but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus 
turned him about, and, Avhen he saw her, he said. 
Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee 
whole. And the woman Avas made whole from that hour.) 
And when Jesus came into the ruler s house, and saw the 
minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto 
them. Give place ; for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. 
And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people 
were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and 
the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into 
all that land. 

The Gospel— Two miracles of our Lord are described in this short Gospel, and each is indi- 
cative of those qTialities of power and mercy which recommend Him so strongly to our hearts. 
Heavily afflicted at the loss of his child, the ruler worshipped Jesus, and expressed a confidence 
in His abihty to raise the dead, which amounted to an act of great faith. Sorrow had thus sud- 
denly made him a worshipper of Jesus, and a believer. The poor trembling woman who sought 
a relief for which she dare not ask, and found it, though her humility kept her silent, is the re- 
presentative of those who have long suffered the sorrows attending repentance, but have not yet 
come to the Saviour. Let such take their lesson from her. If they dare not come, as known and 
observed petitioners, to Christ, yet let them mingle with those who follow Him. He will heal 
and cleanse them, and then openly declare that they are prepared by His grace to be numbered 
among His people. The raising of the daughter of Jairus may be employed to confirm the same 
views. It was not too late for faith and hope to seek Him, thougli all the world ridiculed the 
idea of now desiring His assistance. Had He not been sought, the slumber of the child would 
have been that which is not broken. In His presence death is not death, but sleep ; it has 
changed its nature, with ceasing to be an invincible tyrant at the word of Christ. The fame of 
this miracle went abroad into all the land where it had been performed, but it concerned all coun- 
tries and all ages as well as the district and the point of time in which it was wrought. On the 
truth of Christ's word depends every reasonable hope of everlasting life, and of the happiness 
which may render immortality acceptable, matever, therefore, added to the evidence of His 
divinity, added to the felicity of mankind, if hope be an element of good. 

311 




The Ticenty-Jifth Sunday after Trinity. 





The Collect. 

TIR up, \Ye beseech thee, Lord, 
the ^vills of thy faithful people ; that 
they, plenteously biinging forth the 
fruit of good works, may of thee be 
plenteously rewarded ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — The evangelical year lias now nearly completed its circuit, and the 
people of God begin again to meditate on the approach of those great events in which all 
their hopes and triumphs had their dawn. Impressed with a solemn sense of the wonder- 
ful deliverance which has been wionght for them, they discover with sorrow that their 
devotion is often cold when it should be most fervent, and then- hearts still more fre- 
quently inclined to refuse obedience to the Spirit to whom they are indebted for life itself. Hence 
tijey pray that God would arouse them to greater activity, and enable them so to bring forth the 
fruits of righteousness, that they may be acceptable to Him through, and iu, Christ. These con- 
cluding words, nccessan-, and full of meaning at the end of whatsoever prayer they may be 
placed, are especially appropriate when following any expression which speaks of a reward for 
good works. For such we may ask, through Christ, but only through Him ; for to Him we are 
wholly indebted fur the grace which enabled us to do aright, and to Him belongs all the gloiy 
of our turning from darkness unto light. 

312 



THE TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



For the E-pistle. Jer. xxiii. 5. 

EHOLD, the clays come, saith the 
Lord, that I will raise unto David a 
righteous Branch, and a King shall 
reign, and prosper, and shall ex- 
ecute judgement and justice in the 
earth. In his days Judah shall be 
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : 
and this is his Name whereby he 
shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 
they shall no more say. The Lord liveth, which brought 
up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; but. 
The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led the 
seed of the house of Israel out of the north-country, and 
from all countries whither I had driven them ; and they 
shall dwell in their own land. 




The Gospel. St. John vi. 5. 

HEN Jesus then lifted up his eyes, 
and saw a great company come unto 
him, he saith unto Philip, Whence 
shall we buy bread that these may 
eat ? (And this he said to prove 
him; for he himself knew what he 
would do.) Philip answered him. 
Two hundred penny-worth of bread 
is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may 
take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's 

The Epistle. — We thus resume the contemplation of that wonderful series of prophecies which 
point with more particular exactness to the coming and tlie character of our Lord. The very 
circumstance that such a class of writings exists is sufficient to direct the attenion of ingenuous 
minds to the general evidence of revelation. To foretell what will happen in tlie natural world at 
a distant period, and in so far as it is dependent upon known laws, is in the power of only highly 
enlightened intellects ; but how infinitely superior would those minds be which could calculate the 
laws of moral action so as to foresee events in the progress of human history, supposing that such 
events were governed by principles open to discovery ! The simple fact that occurrences have 
been foretold, has but to be established to fill every thinking man with the spirit of inquiry. 

313 ^ 2s 




THE TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath 
five barley-loaves, and two small fishes ; but what are 
they among so many? And Jesus said. Make the men 
sit down. Now there w^as much grass in the place. So 
the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And 
Jesus took the loaves, and, when he had given thanks, he 
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that 
were set down, and likewise of the fishes, as much as they 
would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, 
Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be 
lost. Therefore they gathered them togeth'er, and filled 
twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley- 
loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had 
eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle 
that Jesus did, said. This is of a truth that Prophet that 
should come into the world. 

f If there he any more Sundays before Advent- Sunday, the Service of some of those 
Sundays tliat tvere omitted after the Epi])hany shall he taken in to supply so many 
as are here ivanting. And if there he fewer, the overplus may he omitted : Provided 
that this last Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall always he used upon the Sunday next 
before Advent. 

The Gospel, — Again we are called upon to contemplate the wonderful exercise of Christ's power 
in the feeding of a famishing multitude. As often as this -subject is presented to the mind of a 
believer, so often ought he to meditate not only on the astonishing character of the miracle, but on 
his own wants and infirmities, — on the necessities of his nature, and the dangers of the situation in 
which he is placed. However earnest we may be in our attention to the word preached, still we 
faint unless Christ feed us, which He then does when, superadded to the letter of His revelations. 
His cherishing grace is poured living into om- hearts. It is by this after gift that He manifests 
His power — His tenderness and care for His people. With the feeling in our souls that we owe 
strength to tlie nourishment which He has bestowed, we shall be spiritually as eager to follow 
Him as was the multitude, according to mere human desire, when they recollected how He had 
replenished them in the wilderness. But we think too little of the power of Jesus Christ. He is 
described as " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." His power was not such that it could be 
influenced by time. He is, therefore, still exercising it according to the majesty of His nature; 
and were we not wanting in rectitude of heart, we should see and own its operations. There is a 
sublimity in the power of Christ to save. " Whence should we have so much bread in the wilder- 
ness, to feed so great a multitude?" This is a natm-al question. The application of every benefit 
which man can bestow is limited to few. His means are soon exhausted; his patience equally so : 
and having been taught not to hope for good in this world, unless we are among the favoured few, 
we carry our doubts even to the consideration of the goodness of Christ. The world pi'csents itself 
in the mass. Millions upon millions of human creatures press before us, and these are to be pro- 
vided for by Christ, His power must be sufficient to order chcumstances in their favour ; — His 
merits sufficient to satisfy for them ; — His grace sufficient to convert them ; — His strength to raise 
them ; — and His command of the means of good sufficient to supply all their wants : a mighty 
demand on power, but not greater than Christ can answer. 

f RuBKic— This rubric is not found in the original copy of the Liturgy ; and it still leaves room 
for some difference of jiractice in the ordering of the Service. But the last Sunday in Epiphany 
is proj^erly regarded as furnishing the most appropriate introduction to the lessons of Advent 

314 



Saint Andrews Day, 




The Collect. 

LMIGHTY God, who didst give 
such grace unto thy holy Apostle 
Saint Andrew, that he readily obeyed 
the caUing of thy Son Jesus Christ, 
and followed him without delay; 
Grant unto us all, that we, being 
■called by thy holy Word, may forthwith give up our- 
selves obedienth^ to fulfil thv holv commandments : 
throuo4i the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — It was the custom of the Cln-istian Chm-eh iii earliest clays to commemorate 
the labours and sufferings of tlie servants of God. The first preachers of the Gospel, as elder 
brothers in the family of Chi'ist, have all those claims upon our affection which belong to a well- 
evidenced fidehty. They exposed themselves to every species of danger for the cause of holiness, 
and counted not their lives dear unto them, tliat they might glorify God, and promote the ever- 
lasting welfare of their race. But there are other reason? for the observance of the days conse- 
crated to their memory-. An attention to such periods of devotion breaks the appearance of too 
strict a reckoning with God as to His right over a portion of our time ; and yet further, it affords 
the ministers of rehgion a fitting opportunity for speaking of many historical circumstances con- 
nected with the foundation and progress of the CLurch. The Saints' days ceased to be kept at 
the Eevolution, but their observance was revived at the re-establishment of the former state of 
things, and was made incumbent on churchmen bv the Act of Unifovmitv. 

315 



SAINT ANDKEW'S DAY. 



The Epistle. Eom. x. 9. 




F tlioii shalt confess with thy mouth 
the Lord Jesus, and shah behove in 
thine heart that God hath raised 
him from the dead, thou shalt be 
saved. For with the heart man be- 
heveth unto righteousness, and with 
the mouth confession is made unto 
salvation. For the Scripture saith, 
Whosoever beheveth on him shaU not be ashamed. For 
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: 
for the same Lord over aU is rich unto aU that cah upon 
him. For whosoever shah caU upon the Name of the 
Lord shah be saved. How then shah they caU on him, 
in whom they have not beheved ? And how shaU they 
beheve in him, of whom they have not heard ? And how 
shaU they hear without a preacher ? And how shall they 
preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How 
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of 
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things ! But they 
have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith. Lord, 
who hath believed our report ? So then faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But I say. 
Have they not heard ? Yes verily, their sound went into 
all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 
But I say. Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I 
will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, 
and by a foolish nation I wiU anger you. But Esaias is 
A^ery bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me 
not ; I was made manifest unto them that asked not 
after me. But to Israel he saith. All day long I have 
stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain- 
saying people. 

The Epistle. — This eloquent account of the necessity of the Gospel as a message to mankind, 
iiKildiiC;- Ood known, and offering the means of grace, exhibits in a striking degree St. Paul's 
)a;i.-t<rv over the whole sei'ies of divine truth. He lays down tlie principles by which alone rehgion 
can have a beginning ; namely, belief, consequent on the communication of adequate Iniowledge ; 

316 



SAINT ANDEEWS DAY. 



The Gospel. St. Mattli. iv, 18. 

ESUS, walldng by the sea of Gali- 
lee, saw two brethren, Simon called 
Peter, and Andrew his brother, cast- 
ing a net into the sea, (for they were 
fishers ;) and he saitli nnto them, 
Follow me ; and I will make you 
fishers of men. And they straight- 
way left their nets, and folloived 
on from thence he saw other two 
brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, 
in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets ; 
and he called them. And they immediately left the ship 
and their father, and followed him. 

and willing and actual confession, as bringing into demonstrable life the existence of the internal 
sentiment. Thus with the heart we apprehend the proffered means of righteousness ; and with 
the mouth we make the confession which both places us on the patli of labour and trial, and num- 
bers us among the people whom God calls His own. But none of these principles can be imbibed 
till stated on the authority of Divine revelation. Hence the necessity of the Gospel ; — hence the 
happiness of those who gladly receive it ; — the misery of those respecting whom it is said, " All 
day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." 

The Gospel.— St. Andrew's Day stands the first in the calendar, he having been the first who 
recognized Christ as the Messiah. He was originally one of the disciples of John tlie Baptist, and 
from him received those intimations which induced him so readily and anxiously to follow Jesus 
as a master. A year, however, intervened between his recognition of Christ and his taking the 
oflBce of the Apostleship. Traditionary history relates that Andrew, after the Ascension of our 
Lord, went into Scythia, and other neighbouring countries. Having spent a considerable time in 
teaching the Gospel to the people of these lands, he made his way to the shores of the Bosphorus, 
and established a church at Byzantium. He then again passed into the regions where he had 
before preached, and afterwards he travelled into Ai-abia, in a city of whicli country, called Pati'se, 
he suffered martrydom by crucifixion. His death, it is said, was singularly long and painful. He 
bung upon the cross for two days ; but no complaint escaped him, and he employed his hours of 
agony in beseeching those who stood by to repent of their sins, and acknowledge Jesus as the Son 
of God. The genuine preachers of righteousness have never refused to suffer for its sake. They 
have been ready to encounter danger in its most appalling forms ; to bear bm-dens and fatigues 
that would have been intolerable to the rest of mankind; and to forego whatever pleasures or 
advantages might interfere with the one great object in view. Let it be the history of Moses, 
Isaiah, Daniel, or any other of the prophets ; — let it be the history of apostles, evangelists, martyrs, 
or missionaries, that we read ; — we find, in all, the same proofs of mind elevated above the vanities 
and falsehoods of the world ;— of feelings glowing with the love of God and man;— of desires 
and intentions venerable under all aspects, and in all cii'cumstances. It is this which gives so deep 
an interest to the history of om- religion ; for that which most truly connects us with the past is 
only to be found there,— the relationship, that is, which reigns among all the people of God, and 
which is disturbed by neither time nor distance. St. Andrew followed Christ, at first witliout any 
idea of the cross. He would have been little able, at that tune, to bear the prospect of the death 
to winch he subsequently so patiently resigned himself. He gained his strength by contirsuing to 
follow Christ, and was thus found prepared when his testimony was needed. So let us pursue 
the path of holiness, and we shall not be V(anting in the hour of trial. 

317 




Saiiit Thomas the Apostle, 




more. 



The Collect, 

LMIGHTY and everliving God, 
who for the more confirmation of the 
faith didst suffer thy holy Apostle 
Thomas to be doubtful in thy Son's 
resurrection ; Grant us so perfectly, 
and without all doubt, to believe in 
thy Son Jesus Christ, that our faith in thj^^ sight may 
never be reproved. Hear us, Lord, through the 
same Jesus Christ, to whom, with thee and the Holy 
Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and for ever- 
Amen, 



The Collect. — Our prayers are, then, most lively and earnest when they spring fi-om a 
thorough conviction of our uecessities. And then is a wakeful mind most sensible of its wants 
and dangers when it reads in tlie great book of experience of what others have done amiss eitlier 
in neglect of duty, or in the mistaken pui-suit of happiness. The example of St. Thomas warns 
us against placing too much confidence in the determinations of our judgment. Had he been 
more willing to hear than desirous of seeing — that is, more ready to trust to the appeals made to his 
spiritual understanding, tlian anxious to bring all things to the test of his outward senses, he would 
have obtained a blessing wliich is reserved for those who, tliough they do not see, yet believe. 

318 



SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 



llie Epistle. Ephes. ii. 19. 

OW therefore ye are no more 
strangers and foreigners, but fel- 
low-citizens with the saints, and of 
the household of God ; and are built 
upon the foundation of the Apostles 
and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief corner-stone ; in 
whom all the building, fitly framed 
together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord ; in 
whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of 
God, through the Spirit. 





The Gospel. St. John xx, 24. 

HOMAS, one of the twelve, called 
Didymus, was not with them when 
Jesus came. The other disciples 
therefore said unto him. We have 
seen the Lord. But he said unto 
them. Except I shall see in his 
hands the print of the nails, and 
put my finger into the print of the 
nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and 
Thomas with them : then came Jesus, the doors being 
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 
Then said he to Thomas, Eeach hither thy finger, and 

The Epistle. — Many lessons of great force and interest may be learnt from the representation 
of Christ's people under the image of one united and happy family. Do.trinally considered, it 
illustrates the comprehensiveness of our Lord's humanity as the head of the recovered race ; and 
the power of the Holy Spirit, as bestowing a common life of purity, love, and divine happiness. 
To the creation of such a family there were opposed the force of ancient evil, the original sentence 
against sin ; the fierce passions of mankind, and the fears and prejudices which had been generated 
in tlje progress of the law. But mighty as was this antagonist power, the grace of God was 
mightier. The middle wall fell down at the voice of mercy ; the handwriting against us was 
nailed to the Cross ; strangers and foreigners were made fellow-citizens with the Saints ; and a 
filial spirit was poured into all hearts. Then rose the Temple, resplendent with inward life and 
glory, comprehended in Christ, filled by the constant sanctity of the Holy Ghost, and thence 
made an acceptable habitation to the eternal Father. 

319 " . 



SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 



behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust 
it into my side ; and be not faithless, but believing. 
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and 
my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou 
hast seen me, thou hast believed ; blessed are they that 
have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other 
signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, 
which are not written in this book. But these are written 
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
God ; and that believing ye might have life through his 
Name. 

The Gospel. — The disbelief of Thomas had its origin in the natural unwillingness of the mind 
to form weighty decisions on the testimony of others. If Jesus were risen, a new world of thought 
was open ; jDrinciples of action were changed ; the man who had called Him Lord was no longer 
under the dominion of his own will ; everything was become new ; and a prospect opened itself to 
the awe-struck imagination, overpowering, and even terrible, in its grandeur. Natm-ally con- 
sidered, therefore, the incredulity of Thomas might be accounted for, and excused ; but viewed in 
connexion with all which had gone before, and wdiich ought to have been employed as preparatives 
of faith, it convicts him, on the one side, of negligence, and on the other, of a want of humility and 
spiritual susceptibility. His repentance was earnest, and his confession of faith noble as that 
which, made by St. Peter, obtained the especial blessing of Christ. But the words of his IMaster 
taught him that he had forfeited a j)ortion of tlie joy which would otlierwise have fallen to Ijis lot. 
If tradition speak true, he laboured earnestly to recover the fulness of the blessing. By him the 
Church was planted in Parthia and India, where, after many years of labour and suffering, he is 
said to have died a martyr. The concluding words of the Evangelist ought to sink deep into our 
hearts. " Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." In no age 
of the world have mankind remained contented with the simple knowledge of their duty. An 
innate sense of some connexion with unseen w^orlds urges them into the depths of inquiry ; and 
while they i^rofess themselves contented with present guides, they are instinctively agitating 
-questions respecting fate, futurity, and divine dispensations. But the very basis of Chrisfs reli- 
gion is a revelation of God, of His natm-e and His will; and hence it embraces every subject 
which relates, in the highest degree, to the happiness of mankind. And this fmiiishes us with 
helps for the distinguishing of true from false religion. The creations of human fancy, or tlie 
result of partial traditions, embrace but a small section of that which is properly contemi^lated by 
religion ; whereas that which is written to lead us through Christ to God, has a close relation to 
whatever can interest the human heart. We claim this honour for the Gospel, It embraces in 
its vast extent the elements of univei'sal trutli, and while unfolding the sublimest mysteries, esta- 
blishes on an eternal basis every argument to duty. Systems are to be judged according to the 
foundation on which they rest. This is equally true of theories of science, politics, and religion. 
The siDecioua appearance which the surface presents is not sufScient to inspire a wise man with 
conviction. A house built upon the sand may be as beautiful in its architecture, and as rich in 
ornament, as that budt upon the rock. Inquiry is necessary for the individual ascertaining ot 
truth, however generally it may have been promulged. Most of the false systems of philosophy 
and religion liave gained their footing in the world by having a sufficiency of dazzling proba- 
bilities to beautify the surface. But while the interests of our own souls, and of mankind at large, 
require tliat we carefully examine the origin of systems, it is equally necessary that we ingenuously 
admit fair and credible evidence ; that having discovered somewhat that is true, we do not 
neglect the principles whence it springs, or take the superstructure, and forget to own tlic value 
of the foundation. The Gospel is given us that w^e may harn to believe. Let us study it, and 
rejoice in the evidence whicli it affords, that He whom we call Master is the conqueror of sin and 
death. 



320 



TJw Conversion of Saint Paul 




The Collect. 



"mm 





Saint 



GOD, who, tliroiigh 
a :;, the preachmg of 
the blessed Apostle 
Paul, hast 
caused the light 
of the Gospel to 
^ shine throughout 
the world ; Grant, vfe beseech thee, that 
Ave, having his wonderful conversion 
in remembrance, may shew forth our 
thankfulness unto thee for the same, 
by following the holy doctrine which 
he taught; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord Amen, 



The Collect. — Never did the illumination of a human mind 
by the light of God's Spirit do more good to the world at large 
than did the conversion of St. Paul. Fired by zeal and prejudice, 
he would have effected, even had his cause, been right, but a very limited portion of good. His 
proceedings could have led to no better result than the punishment of error. Its suppression 
requires another and more comprehensive spirit — a spirit that can change and sanctify, and not 
that of wrath, which destroys the gold that the furnace is lit to purify. By liis conversion, St. Paul 
became imbued with the power which enabled him to lay the foimdation of happiness for thou- 
sands. Few, indeed, have been the events for which the nations of the world have so much cause 
to be thankful, as for the calling of this teacher of trath to the Apostleship of Christ. It was 
reserved for him to make known the full intentions of God as the Father of mankind at large. 
The Gospel itself had been well-nigh legarded as only intended to confer fresh privileges on those 
w^ho were chosen of old. To St. Paul was revealed the true mystery of grace. He was raised to 
the third heaven— to the glorious regions of celestial truth, that he might survey, from that 
sublime height, the vast family of mankind, struggling under the bm-den of a common calamity, 
and now destined to be the subjects of a common salvation. The energy bestowed upon him by 
the Divine Spirit was shared equally between the contemplation of the mystery thus revealed and 
the publication of it to the world. Hence his power of describing those objects of spiritual 
thought which faith has ever since been able to comprehend, as endowed with life and substance. 
Hence the triumphant language in which he speaks of the final overthrow of sin, and of coming 
days of restitution; hence the experimental tendency of his sublimest appeals to men's con- 
sciences ; and hence the labours in which his wliole life was passed, the conversion of the world 
being the only object for which he desired to live. St. Paul has given a transcript of his thoughts 
as they grew in his soul under the light of tlie Holy Ghost. He speaks to us as one who cared 
for us, and we feel him still to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. 

321 ^ 2 T 



THE CONVEESION OF SAINT PAUL. 



Fo7' the Epistle. Acts ix. 1. 

ND Saul, yet breathing out threat- 
enings and slaughter against the 
disciples of the Lord, went unto the 
high priest, and desired of him 
letters to Damascus to the syna- 
gogues, that, if he found any of this 
way, whether they were men or 
women, he might bring them bound 
unto Jerusalem. And, as he journeyed, he came near 
Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him 
a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and 
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why perse- 
cutest thou me? And he said. Who art thou. Lord? 
And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest : 
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he, 
trembling and astonished, said. Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do ? And the Lord said unto him. Arise and 
go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou 
must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood 
speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And 
Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes w^ere 
opened he saw no man ; but they led him by the hand, 
and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days 
without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there 
Avas a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias, and 
to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, 
Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him. 
Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and 
enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of 
Tarsus : for behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision 
a man named Ananias, coming in, and putting his hand 
on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias 
answered. Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how 
much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem ; and 
here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all 
322 




THE CONYEESION OF SAINT PAUL. 



that call on thy Name. But the Lord said unto him, Go 
thy way ; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my 
Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children 
of Israel : for I will shew him how gi'eat things he must 
suffer for my Name's sake. And Ananias went his way, 
and entered into the house ; and putting his hands on 
him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, (even Jesus that 
appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest,) hath sent 
me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled 
with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from 
his eyes as it had been scales ; and he received sight 
forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he 
had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul 
certain days with the disciples Avhich were at Damascus. 
And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, 
that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were 
amazed, and said. Is not this he that destroyed them 
which called on this Name in Jerusalem, and came hither 
for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the 
chief priests ? But Saul increased the more in strength, 
and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, 
proving that this is very Christ. 

The Epistle. — St. PauFs conversion has been properly considered as affording a distinct brancli 
of Christian evidence. The state of mind in which he was found presented none of the pre- 
paratives usually regarded as necessary to ' a general change of belief He was not simply an 
enthusiast in devotion to the Jewish religion; he was well taught, and had a deep acquaintance 
with the doctrines and traditions of the ancient faith. His affections, associations, and future 
prospects, were all intimately connected with that faith. The religion of Christ, on the other 
hand, afforded nothing, till carefrdly and dispassionately examined, which could satisfy feelings 
thus engendered. To every hope of worldly advancement it was yet more distinctly opposed 
than to views of doctrine or opinion ; and we must set aside all the rules whereby we are accus- 
tomed to judge of men's conduct, if we ascribe the conversion of St. Paul to any other than a 
divine power. The simple narrative of the conversion is nobly illustrated by the subsequent 
conduct of the Apostle ; and a species of evidence is thereby atforded to which no parallel can be 
found except in histories willingly acknowledged to be true. The supposition of fraud, enthusiasm, 
or folly, is equally answered by the plain facts recorded of St. Paul's life. He laboured too 
earnestly and painfully for the one case to be probable, and too long and too wisely for the 
other. The preaching of St. Paul was not to popular assemblies. At no period of his labom-s 
did he come within a sphere in which the excitements of enthusiasm could act ; and from the 
very nature of the case, wealth or dignity could never be the reward expected by a Christian 
teacher in those early days. That he was intensely convinced of the truth of the Gospel, — that 
his impressions were those of a man who had seen and heard the Son of God — affords the only 
reasonable explanation of his conduct. And taking this as the fair groundwork of inquiry, our 
next object is to examine whether the writings and sentiments, — the general character and senti- 
ments of this wonderful man, exhibit aught which would lead us to believe him of a weak and 

323 



THE CONYEESION OF SAINT PAUL. 



The Gospel. St. Matth. xix. 27. 

ETEE answered and said imto 
Jesus, Behold, we have forsaken all, 
and followed thee ; what shall we 
have therefore ? And J esus said 
unto them, Verily I say unto you. 
That ye which have followed me, in 
the reo:eneration when the Son ot 
man shall sit in the throne of his 
glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath for- 
saken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
or wife, or children, or lands, for my Name's sake, shall 
receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 
But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be 
first. 

credulous character ; or whether they do not present the features of a fii-m and mascuUne under- 
standing,— such a one, in short, as we universally believe to be best fitted for the examination of 
truth, and an honest profession of belief in the truth when once fairly discovered. 

The Gospel— The Gospel is well chosen, as containing the assurance of our blessed Lord that 
they who, like St. Paul, give up their worldly prospects for his service, shall not fail of a rich re- 
turn for this sacrifice to faith and love. Convinced by such lessons, the believer in the Gospel 
rejoices in the opportunities which present themselves for exercising self-denial. He knows that 
the path upon which he follows Christ and His peojile must finally conduct to happiness and 
glory. Were we as willing to believe God as we are ready to trust our fellow-creatures, the 
Gospel would place us in a position, the most favourable of all others, for the encouragement of 
hope. Our means of happiness are few and^ unsubstantial. Use them as we may, they produce 
but a poor retuj.-n for labour : the exchange is always against us ; and we find om-selves declining 
every day towards utter bankruptcy. But how difierent would be our condition chd we go to 
Gofl, and make an otfer of what we possess for His service ! Our poorest show of wealth would 
then become respectable. Given to Him, the least of our possessions would be the means of 
wealth ; and as we -went on, trusting more and more to His Word, and at lengtli surrendering all 
to Him, we should find ourselves in the way of acquiring riches, such as would afford us a more 
than hundred-fold profit for any thing we might have given up. But instead of placing any 
confidence in God, and emjDloying our possessions to promote His honour, we grasp them as 
things of inestimable worth, while we know it is impossible to retain them. Let the Holy 
Spirit, then, teach us to make a more profitable use of what we call our own. Let Him instruct 
us how to bring them to God, — how to employ them in His honour, — how to wait for the season 
of return in pure faith and hope. It will then soon be seen that we are not so badly provided 
for as appears ; and that he is truly rich who, however little he may possess, is willing to give 
that little into the hands of God. 

It was not till the final review of the Liturgy that this day was named in the tables as one of 
the stated festivals of the reformed Church. This is supposed to have arisen from the time of 
the year when it occurs, and when the business of the Convocation formerly demanded the con- 
stant attention of the clergy. But notwitlistanding the omission of the day in the tables, the 
Collect, &c., were supplied for its observance by tliose whose leisure permitted it. 




324 



The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, commonly called, 
The Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin. 




The Collect. 

LMIGHTY and everliving God, 
we humbly beseech thy Majesty, 
that, as thy only-begotten Son was 
this day presented in the temple in 
substance of our flesh, so we may be 
presented unto thee with pure and 
hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our 
Amen. 

The Collect. — Christ, tliougli partaking of flesh and blood, and in His whole nature like unto 
His brethren, was without sin. This rendered Him glorious in the sight of angels, and accept- 
able to His Father as now presented in all the attributes of humanity. To every one who has a 
just sense of what is most excellent and beautiful, the prime object of desire will be, that tlie 
Holy Si^irit may so sanctify him, that he also, in Christ Jesus, may be presented perfect, and 
acceptable unto God. 

The Epistle. — The portion of Scripture, chosen for the Epistle, contains a description of the 
coming of our Lord strikingly in contrast with the narrative of the Gospel. But the infant 
Jesus, clothed as he was in meekness, was the Messenger of the Covenant of peace and glory, 
and for the establishmeut of which God's people had been looking from the earliest days. He 
came to the Temple as its Lord, but veiling His glory in the gentlest form of mercy, and pro- 
vided with the means, not of awing or confounding, but of suffering and redeeming. To those 
who rejoiced in this His manifestation to take away sin, He became a Saviour; tliey were puri- 
fied, as silver and gold are purified in the fire, by His grace and love. But soon He puts aside 
the form that was despised, and ; ppears, as the enemies of His redeeming mercy wished Him at 

325 



THE PUEIFICATIOX OF SAINT MAEY. 



Fnr the Epistk. Mai. iii. 1. 

EHOLD. T will send my messenger, 
and lie shall prepare the way before 
me : and the Lord. A\diom ye seek, 
shall suddenly come to his temple : 
even the messenger of the covenant, 
Avhom ye delight in : behold, he shall 
come, saitli the Lord of Hosts. But 
who may abide tlie day of his coming? 
and who shall stand when he appeareth ? for he is like a 
refiners fire, and like fullers' soap. And he shall sit as 
a refiner and purifier of silver : and he shall purify the 
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that 
thev mav ofi:er unto the Lord an oiierina^ in ria^hteousness. 
Then shall the otferings of Judah and Jerusalem be plea- 
sant unto the Lord, as in the days of old. and as in former 
years. And I will come near to you to judgement, and I 
will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against 
the adulterers, and against false-swearers, and against 
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, 
and the tatherless. and that turn aside the stranger from 
his rioiit, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. 

The Gnspel St. Luke ii. 22. 

XD when the days of her purifica- 
tion, according to the Law of I\L:)ses. 
Avei'e accomijlislied, thev brouoiit 
him to Jerusalem, to present him 
to the Lord: (as it is written in the 
Law of the Lord. Every male that 
openeth the womb shall be called 
holy to the Lr)rd :) and to olier a 
sacrifice, according to that which is said in the Law of 

first to appear, as a conqueror and a ju'k-e. Prom the temple of Hi> holiness He drives them as 
unwortliy to stand in His presence ; and tij.}- ii.:ri-ii nmler the liglitning of tliat very gL ry which 
they were so anxi'-n- to sol- displayed. 

The Gospel. — Tw.;, impnrtant pnrpw.-e.- -were reaavded in the Levitioal lav,- : the one was, the 
keepinsr of the nation separate from all the rest '^f the wnrld ; the other, the inculcation of the 

326 





THE PUKIFICATION OF SAINT MAKY. 

♦ 

the Lord, A pair of turtle-doyes, or two young pigeons. 
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name 
was Symeon ; and the same man was just and devout, 
waiting for the consolation of Israel : and the Holy Ghost 
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the 
Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had 
seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into 
the temple; and when the parents brought in the child 
Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then 
took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, accord- 
ing to thy. word: for inine eyes have seen thy salvation, 
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people : a 
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 
Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those 
things which were spoken of him. And Symeon blessed 
them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is 
set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel ; and 
for a sign which shall be spoken against ; (yea, a sword 
shall pierce through thy own soul also ;) that the thoughts 
of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one 
Anna a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe 
of Aser ; she was of a great age, and had lived with an 
husband seven years from her virginity : and she was a 
widow of about fourscore and four years ; which departed 
not from the temple, but served God with fastings and 
prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant 
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to 
all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And 
when they had performed all things according to the law 
of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city 
Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, 
filled with wisdom ; and the grace of God was upon him. 

truth, that man is bom in sin; — that sin is most hateful to God ; — and that no one can be accept- 
able in His sight till it have been cleansed and pm-ged away. Original sin was pointed at in the 
rite of purification ; as actual offences were represented in the numerous daily and yearly sacri- 
fices offered up for the whole people. See Exodus xiii. 2, and Levit. xii. 

This festival was originally observed in commemoration of Simeon's announcement that he had 

327 



Saint Matthias s Day. 




The Collect. 

ALMIGHTY God, who into the 
place of the traitor Judas didst 
choose thy faithful servant Matthias 
to be of the number of the twelve 
Apostles ; Grant that thy Church, 
being alway preserved from false 
Apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and 
true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



seen the davrn of salvation. It was then called Hypapante, or, the Day of the Meetmg. But the 
earliest date assigned for its observance is about the middle of the sixth century. In conformity 
■with the taste and practise of the age, the simple language of the venerable Simeon was made 
the ground for a gorgeous display of illuminations. Hence the name of Candlemas. Archbishop 
Cranmer put an early stop to this superstitious mode of illustrating the Gospel. 

The C'ijLLECT. — How many there are who, w^illing to acknowledge the importance of truth, and 
of the means of diffusing it among mankind, think as little about the part which they themselves 
liave to fulfil as if tliey were wholly fixe from responsibility and duty ! The Church depending 
for its purity on the grace bestow^ed by God, on the light given to its ministers, and on the preser- 
vation of the Scriptures of truth, they are lamentably deficient in the exercise of their Christian 
calling who neglect to pray for the restoration, or the continuance and increase of those blessings. 

328 



SAINT MATTHIAS'S DAY. 



For the Epistle. Acts i. 15. 

N those days Peter stood up in the 
midst of the disciples, and said, (the 
number of the names together were 
about an hundred and twenty,) Men 
and brethren, this Scripture must 
needs have been fulfilled, which the 
Holy Ghost by the mouth of David 
spake before concerning Judas, which 
was guide to them that took Jesus : for he was numbered 
with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now 
this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity • 
and falling headlong he burst asunder hi the midst, and all 
his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the 
dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in 
their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of 
blood. ^ For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his 
habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein ; and. 
His bishoprick let another take. Wherefore, of these men 
which have companied with us all the time that the Lord 
Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the bap- 
tism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up 
from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of 
his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called 
Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And 
they prayed, and said. Thou, Lord, which knowest the 
hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast 
chosen ; that he may take part of this ministry and apostle- 
ship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might 
go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots ; and 
the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the 
eleven Apostles. 

The EpisTLE.-Tlie appointment of Matthias to the Apostlesliip was conducted with immediate 
regard to the authority and promises of Christ. It was from Him alone the office derived its 
power and dignity. He alone could confer it ; and as yet the Holy Ghost had not descended upon 
the Apostles, constituting the Church, and giving it to have life and wisdom within itself as the 
body of Christ. When this mighty privilege had been bestowed, the Apostles and their successors 

329 2 u 




SAINT MATTHIAS'S DAY. 




The Gospel. St. Mattli. xi. 25. 

T that time Jesus answered and 
said, I tlianlv thee, Father, Lord 
of heaven and earth, because thou 
hast hid these tilings from the wise 
and prudent, and hast revealed them 
unto babes. Even so, Father, for 
so it seemed good in thy sight. All 
things are delivered unto me of my 
Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; 
neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and 
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto 
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of 
me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find 
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my 
burden is light, 

ordained ministers of the divine word by imposition of hands. But it was not from tliem that 
St. Paul received the Apostleship ; his appointment, hke that of Matthias and the rest, called to 
be Apostles, was immediately from Christ. The di-awing of lots, as a mode of determming 
matters not lying within the compass of human wisdom, was of ancient date. " The lot is cast 
into the lap, but the whole disiDOsing thereof is of the Lord." The services of the priests were 
determmed by lot ; and thus it is said of Zacharias (Luke i. 9.), that, " according to the custom of 
the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord." (See 
also 1 Sam. xiv. 41.) But that an appeal to the lot can only be lawfuUy made under very remark- 
able chcumstances, and that nothing can be more dangerous when the hearts of men are not in- 
spired by the spirit of holiness, we have a striking proof in the narrative which Josephus gives of 
the choosing of a high-priest by lot, for it fell upon a miserable rustic, who knew not what the 
high-uriesthood meant. (Wars, b. iv. c. 3.) 

The Gospel.— Little is known of the hfe of Matthias ; but there is no reason to suppose that he 
possessed any greater natural endowments than the other Apostles. Our Lord's thanksgivmg 
was founded on this principle, that while those who enjoy the highest advantages for gaining 
knowledge, and despise those advantages, thereby missing the proffered mercy of Heaven, others, 
who were never so outwardly favoured, thankfully receive, and are saved by, the grace of God. 
Poor and humble, but httle instructed in the wisdom of this world, and with no pretensions to 
distinction, tliey owe eveiything to Divme mercy; and the followers of Christ gladly join their 
THaster in giving thanks to their heavenly Father, that, while He has hidden the mysteries of love 
from the wise and prudent who reject them. He has made them known to the poorest and sun- 
plest of mankind. Matthias, says ti-adition, well fulfilled the object of his call by preaching tlie 
Gospel in various provinces of the East, and finally establishing a church in Cappadocia. He did 
not carrs- on these labours without experiencing a full share of the troubles which fell to the lot of 
Christ's' other Apostles. Tlie barbarian and the civilized were equally hostUe to the preaching 
of repentance and a life of holiness ; at home and abroad the disciples of Christ stood equally ex- 
posed to danger. 3Iatthias, it is said, ended his days in Galilee, where he died a martyr by the 
command of the lii-li-i-rieit. A difference in the computation of time formerly occasioned some 
dispute as to tlir ■ r, ^A l,irh t]ii> f. -...f .Louia 1k' observed : and in the Greek Church it is kept 
in the autumn hir^tead the spring, 

330 



The Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary. 




\Vf his resurrection 
Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. 
E beseech thee, Lord, pour thy 
grace into our hearts; that, as we 
have known the incarnation of thy 
Son Jesus Christ by the message of 
an angel, so by his cross and passion 
we may be brought unto the glory of 
through the same Jesus Christ our 



I 

The Collect. — The Annunciation of the Vii-gin Mary was observed as a festival in the seventh 
century, but cannot, it is said, be traced to a more remote origin. Our Church does not keep it 
in relation to the Vii-gin Mary, but in respect to the great mystery of the incarnation. Tins is 
plainly indicated by the language of the Collect, which teaches us to pray for a spiritual appre- 
hension of this first of wonders in the work of man's redemption. Every doctrine of the Gospel 
is so intimately connected with the system, and is so necessary to its consistency, that the diffi- 
culties of faith are insurmountable when due attention is refused to the hai'mony of evangelical 
tmths. The incarnation of Cin-ist was viewed by many heretics of early times with a strange and 
perverse scepticism, and their errors in this involved them in others which led to their complete 
moral and spiritual degradation. 

331 



ANNUNCIATION OF THE VIKOIN MAEY. 



For the Epistle. Isai. vii. 10. 

OREOVER, the Lord spake again 
unto Aliaz, saying, Ask thee a sign 
of the Lord thy God; ask it either 
in the depth, or in the height above. 
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither 
will I tempt the Lord. And he said, 
Hear ye now, house of David ; Is 
it a small thing for you to weary 
men, but will ye weary my God also ? Therefore the Lord 
himself shall give you a sign ; Behold, a Virgin shall con- 
ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse 
the evil, and choose the good. 





The Gospel. St. Luke i. 26. 

ND in the sixth month the angel 
Gabriel was sent from God unto a 
city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a 
Virgin espoused to a man whose 
name was Joseph, of the house of 
David; and the Virgin's name was 
Mary. And the angel came in unto 
her, and said. Hail, thou that art 
highly favoured, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou 
among women. And when she saw him she was troubled 
at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of saluta- 

The Epistle.— This remarkable prophecy had a literal interpretation in the circumstances 
which occurred shortly after it was delivered. Before a sufficient space of time intervened to 
allow of a virgin's marrying, bearing a son, and bringing him up to the age of youth, the hostile 
countries which ALaz dreaded were reduced to the most helpless state. But the Evangelist has 
taught us that the lofty and mysterious language of the prophet had a grander meaning; and 
that he referred to the birth of One who, born of a virgin, should introduce a period of unfailmg 
prosperity. And every part of the prophecy was as literally fulfilled in its sublime and spu-itual 
as in its more immediate sense. Bishop Lowth's translation gives a clearer meaning to the last 
verse of the passage than that of the authorized version :— " Butter and honey shall he eat, when 
he shall know to refuse what is evil, and to choose what is good." That is, by the time he has 
acquired wisdom and knowledge, days of prosperity sliall have returned to the land. 



ANNUNCIATION OF THE VIEGIN MAEY. 



tion this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear 
not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. And 
behold, thou' shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth 
a Son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be 
great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and 
the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for 
ever ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then 
said Mary unto Ihe angel, How shall this be, seeing I 
know not a man? And the angel answered and said 
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the 
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore 
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be 
called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, 
she hath also conceived a son in her old age ; and this is 
the sixth month with her who was called barren : for with 
God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said. Behold 
the handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto me according to thy 
word. And the angel departed from her. 

The Gospel.— Gabriel was the angel whom God was pleased to employ when He announced to 
Daniel the purpose of deliverance. He it was, too, who bore the message to Zacharias :— " I am 
Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God ; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee 
these glad tidings," As he was employed on these occasions, and on that of the Annunciation, he 
is supposed to have been especially chosen as the messenger of God under the Covenant of the 
Gospel. We may, perhaps, conjecture, without attempting at ambitious refinements, that some- 
thing is imphed in his name with reference to this his employment; for Gabriel means. The 
strength of God, and the Gospel is especially described by the Apostle as " the power of God unto 
salvation, to the Jew first, and also to tlie Gentile." It is also worthy of observation, that the 
message which the Vhgin received is nothing less than a complete summary of the whole subhme 
histojy of the kingdom of heaven. Pure humanity is assumed by the Word that was in the be- 
ginning, and the revelation made of tliat mystery is immediately connected with the announce- 
ment, that endless glory shall be the consequence. The whole of the announcement is in close 
correspondence with the prophecy of Isaiah, and must have brought to Mary's mind the long- 
cherished hopes of God's people with a rapture that would have been overwhelming but for the 
deep humiUty which tempered and subdued it. " Thou shalt call His name Jesus," that is. Saviour. 
This taught her that the miraculous event in which she was so intimately concerned had been 
ordained by the Almighty for purposes of the sublimest mercy. But He was also to be called 
" The Son of the Highest/' and " The Son of God :" and thus, while she recurred to the ancient 
promises of a Saviour, she could not fail to recoUect tliat the long-foretold Son of the Vii-gin was 
to bear the name of Immanuel, and, yet more, of "Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the 
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isaiah is. 6.) While awe-struck with the solemn 
mystery thus about to be accomplished, the holy devotion of the Virgin exhibited itself in a simple 
assent to the Divine will " Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy 
word." The solemnity of the message had silenced the voice of self-congratulation, and it was 
not till after months of humble meditation that she learned to express herself in the language of 
one triumphing in the election of God. 

333 



Saint Maries Day. 



.-7 



The Collect, 
ALMIGHTY God, 
who hast instructed 
thy holy Church with 
the heavenly doc- 
tripe of thy Evan- 
gelist Saint Mark ; 
Give us grace, that^ 
being not like children carried away 
mth every blast of vain doctrine, we 
may be established in the truth of thy 
holy Gospel ; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen, 

The Collect.— The greatest of God's blessings are frequently 
rendered useless by the folly and ingratitude of men. Next to 
the primary instance of his goodness in redemption, is that of 
His providential mercy in affording us so many means of con- 
templating the workings of His grace. He has left us ignorant 
of nothing that can contribute to make us wise and happy. The . 
history of redemption is given, so that we may cherish faith by 
the observation of the sufficiency of the plan ; and the methods of sanctification are unfolded, that 
we may never be left to sorrow or despair, when, feeling our own weakness and corruption, we 
are anxious to obtain the assistance of the heavenly Comforter. But in proportion to the advan- 
tages bestowed upon us, are we responsible for a wise and holy conduct. Man, left to himself, 
may find an excuse, if he err, in the weakness of his nature and the darkness of his mind. He 
may then plead, if he love truth better than error, that he had never an opportunity of contem- 
plating the perfection of Divine things ; and that in yielding, from time to time, to the fascinations 
of imaginary good, he obeyed a principle within him to which truth unknown could offer no oppo- 
sition.° Arguments of this kind cannot be offered in apology for the inconsistency of Christians. 
The elements of right reason are embodied in every doctrine to which they professedly yield 
assent. Their belief is established on foundations which can never be shaken ; and when they 
fail in knowledge or holiness, their errors may generally be traced to culpable negligence, or to 
some known vice. Whatever be our advancement in Christianity, or our confessed deficiency, it 
is always expedient that we pray earnestly against the power of corruption— that we seek the 
heavenly grace which may continually increase our strength, and so finally establish us in the 
truth of the Gospel. Carried away like children " with every blast of vain doctrine," we derive 
none of the comfort from our religion which it is calculated to bestow. A steady and confirmed 
faith is essential to the proper understanding of its doctrines, and to the realization of even the 
least of its promises. The proper basis of every Christian's hope is the existence of a covenant 
into which God has been pleased to enter with him, and which is sealed by the blood of Christ. 
But if this covenant be broken through the waywardness of his own heart, to what can he look 
for either security or happiness ? 

The Epistle.— The beautiful metaphor of St. Paul in which Christians are described as edified, 
or built up, and not puffed up, is applicable with great force to the Church at large. When Christ 
ascended on high, leading captivity captive. He " gave gifts unto men," which secured not only 
the increase, but the perpetuity and glory of the Church. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, 
and teachers, were appointed, and endowed with a noble variety of graces. To them was com- 




SAINT MAEK'S DAY. 




The Epistle. Eplies. iv. 7. 

NTO eveiy one of us is giyen grace, 
according to the measure of the gift 
of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When 
he ascended up on high, he led cap- 
tivity captive, and gave gifts unto 
men. (Now that he ascended, what 
is it but that he also descended first 
into the lower parts of the earth ? 
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far 
above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he 
gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, ancl some Evan- 
gelists, and some Pastors and Teachers ; for the perfecting 
of the samts, for the work of the ministrv, for the edifying 
of the body of Christ ; till we aU corne in the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness 
of Christ ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed 
to and fro, and carried about mth every wind of doctrine, 
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, - whereby 
they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in 
love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the 
head, even Christ : from whom the whole body fitly 
joined together, and compacted by that which every joint 
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the mea- 
sure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the 
edifying of itself in loA^e. 



mitted tlie charge of diffusing the knowledge of tratli and holiness ; and Divine Providence 
never left them without an opportunity of executing the designs for which they were called 
forth. The histories they wrote, — the discourses they delivered, — the record of their lahours, 
sufferings, and triumphs, — have become, by God"s appointment, a treasure and nourishment to 
the Church in all ages. St. Mark was long the companion of Paul and Barnabas, and subse- 
quently accompanied St. Peter to Eome. From the lips of that Apostle, it is supposed, he re- 
ceived many of the accounts with which his Gospel is enricl-ied ; and which, it is further con- 
jectured, he pubhshed, at his request, for the use of the Eoman converts. After the death of 
St. Peter, he travelled uito Egyi^t, where he preached the doctrines of Christ for several years, 
and at length, it is related, sutfered martyrdom. This latter statement is disputed by"^some 
authors, who say that he was spared to die a natural death. We keep the day, not because of 
him, but in gratitude to God, who made him an Evangelist, and that we may express om- devout 
thankfulness for the Gospel, whereby we come unto the knowledge of the Son of God. 

335 



SAINT MAKK'S DAY. 



The Gospel, St. John xv. 1. 

AM the true vme, and my Father is 
the husbandman. Every branch in 
me that beareth not fi'uit he taketh 
away ; and every branch that beareth 
fi'uit, he purgeth it, that it may bring 
forth more fi^uit. Now ye are clean 
through the word which I have 
spoken unto you. Abide in me, and 
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except 
it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in 
me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth 
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; 
for \vithout me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in 
me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men 
gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are 
burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, 
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; 
so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved 
me, so have I loved you : continue ye in my love. If ye 
keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ; even 
as I have kept my Father s commandments, and abide in 
his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my 
joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

The Gospel— By the doctrine of our union with Christ the mysteries of grace, and the sub- 
limest of the heavenly promises, become clearly recognisable by the most humble of God's peoj^le. 
The means by which this union is effected and preserved demand our profoundest attention. As 
to be found in Christ is absolutely necessary to our enjoyment of any permanent good whatever, 
so the provisions made for securing our union with Him are the objects on which, of all others, 
we ought first to fix our thoughts when searching for the means of happiness. To the record of 
His life and doctrine, as given by His chosen Apostles and Evangelists, He adds, for penitent and 
believing hearts, the quickening influences of His Spirit ; and thus that record becomes the Word 
of life, and cleanses the soul. " Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto 
you." This is the comforting declaration which Christ addresses to all faithful behevers in His 
Gospel.' And thus purified, they become members of His mystical body,— their union depending, 
even unto the end, upon the life-giving power of that Word which spoke by St. Mark and the 
other penmen of Scripture ; for " These things," says Christ, " have I spoken unto you, that my 
joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." 




330 



Saint Philip arid Saint James s Day. 




The Collect. 



ALMIGHTY God, 
whom truly to know 
is everlasting life ; 
Grant us perfectly to 
know thy Son Jesus 
Christ to be the way,- 
the truth, and the life ; 
that, following the steps of thy holy 
Apostles, Saint Philip and Saint James, 
we may stedfastly walk in the way that 
leadeth to eternal life ; through the same 
thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Tpie Collect.— The knowledge of Christ as " the way, the ti-uth, 
and the life," is the best gift that v/e can ask of God. Perfectly to 
know Him as such is to enter spiritually into the comprehension of 
His goodness and His wisdom ; to behold, with the eyes of the en- 
lightened understanding, the riches of His glory ; and, by the per- 
ceptions of the sanctified heart, the riches of His grace, Jesus 
Christ thus known Himself, we follow with stedfast devotion those 
who have faithfully served Him in the Gospel, tracing their steps as 
our direction in the way that leadeth to eternal life. 

The Epistle.— St. James, whose memory is here associated with that of St. Philip, was sur- 
named the Less, and was the author of the Epistle known under his name. He is also called the 
brother of our Lord, by which is generally understood that he was one of His cousins, his mother 
being Mary, the wife of Cleophas, or Alpheus (John xix. 25— Mark xv. 40j). Soon after the death 
of Christ he was chosen bishop of Jerusalem, and presided at what has been called the First 
Council of the Church, the proceedings of which are recorded in Acts xv. He lived to extreme 
old age, and was very generally venerated, even his enemies allowing him the title of Justus; but 
was at last put to death by a faction, which could no longer endiu-e his persevering preaching of 
Jesus as the Son of God. By St. Philip was formerly understood St. Philip the deacon, and 
chap, viii, of Acts was accordingly read as the second lesson in the morning service ; but at the 
last revisal of the Liturgy, St. Philip the Apostle was considered to be more properly meant, and 
a new lesson was appointed, taken out of chap. i. of St. John. 

The Gospel.— This beautiful and consolatory portion of the Divine Word sheds forth the brightest 
beams of heavenly love. When our blessed Lord contemplated the hour of His departure, He 
viewed with equal pity and solicitude the situation of His followers. Tliey believed in God, and 
their hearts were already imbued with that incipient belief in His own divinity which strengthened 
them sufficiently to bear and undertake much in His service. But their faith was not yet of the 
kind which casts light upon the vastnesses of futurity, or enables the mind to apprehend the good- 

337 ^ 2 X 



SAINT PHILIP AND SAINT JAMES'S DAY. 



The Epistle. St. James i. 1. 




AMES, a servant of God and of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve 
tribes which are scattered abroad, 
greeting. My brethren, count it all 
joy when ye fall into divers tempta- 
tions ; knowing this, that the trying 
of your faith worketh patience. But 
let patience have her perfect work, 
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If 
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth 
to all men liberally, and upbraid eth not, and it shall be 
given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering ; 
for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven 
with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think 
that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double- 
minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother 
of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted ; but the rich 
in that he is made low ; because as the flower of the grass 
he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with 
a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower 
thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth : 
so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed 
is the man that endureth temptation ; for when he is 
tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord 
hath promised to them that love him. 



ness of God, leaving nothing undone for the perfect salvation of his people. They were, tlierefore, " 
unprepared for meeting the dreadful storm of suffering which was first to fall upon their Lord, and 
then, by their close union with Him, on tliemselves. To overcome the force of terrors which were 
so likely to bow down the natural heart of man. He speaks to tliem of a higher degree, or rather 
kind, of belief, tlian that to which they imd hitherto attained ; and then, passing to the exhilarating 
views connected with such a faith, tells them plainly of those blessed abodes in which the affliction 
whicli was to endure for a moment was to be exchanged' for an abundant weight of joy, and " the 
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." " In my Father's house are many mansions ; 
if it were not so, I would have told you : I go to prepare a place for you." Here is more than a 
mere comnuniication of the reality of another life, or of another world. Continued existence is, 
under ordinary circumstances, regarded as in itself a good. But we usually forget what a com- 
plicated tiling existence is, or rather the existence of a person, with all the variety of properties and 
appetites whicli make up his original nature ; and how much more so wlien regarded in any 
advanced stage of existence, when he has recollections, sympathies, and habits, which are, as it 

338 



SAINT PHILIP AND SAINT JAMES'S DAY. 



The Gospel. St. John xiv, 1 . 

ND Jesus said unto his disciples, 
Let not your heart be troubled ; 
ye believe in God, believe also in 
me. In my Fathers house are 
many mansions ; if it were not so, 
I would have told you. I go to 
prepare a place for you: and if I 
go and prepare a place for you, I 
will come again, and receive you unto myself, that Avhere 
I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, 
and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him. Lord, we 
know not whether thou goest, and how can we know the 
way ? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and 
the life : no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If 
ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also ; 
and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 
Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it 
sufficeth us, Jesus saith unto him. Have I been so long 
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? 
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father ; and how 
sayest thou then, Shew us the Father ? Believest thou not 
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? The 
words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself ; but 
the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Be- 
lieve me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ; 
or else believe me for the very work's sake. Verily, 
verily I say unto you. He that believeth on me, the 
works that I do shall he do also ; and greater works than 
these shall he do ; because I go unto my Father. And 
whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do, that 
the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask 
any thing in my Name, I will do it. 

were, a second natm-e. Now it is not the promise of lasting existence merely wliicli Christ 
bestows ; but of a life replenished with every good, the whole vast variety of interests and har- 
monies being contemplated and provided for in the mansions of His Father's house. 

339 ^ . 




Saint Barnabas the Apostle, 




The Collect. 

LORD God Almighty, who didst 
endue thy holy Apostle Barnabas 
with singular gifts of the Holy 
Ghost ; Leave us not, we beseech 
thee, destitute of thy manifold gifts, 
nor yet of grace to use them alway 
to thy honour and glory ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



The Collect.— This day, like that of St. Paul, was not originally inserted in the table of liigli 
holy-days, altliougli proper services for them existed, the reason in both cases being, that they 
occurred when the business of the courts, or that of the liarvest month, seemed to render the 
keeping of a lii'j:li-fcstiv;il in( X]:)edient. They were, however, inserted from the Scotch Liturgy 
at the last \ i< w, :a\<{ ;iiv imw to he regarded as clainaing attention equally with the otlier holy- 
dnys. The Collect expvf.s.-c- n (Miilifid ackiiowledgincnt of the power of that heavenly Spirit 
which, wliilc it endowed snin.j w iih ihc - laces of tlio Apostlcship, works in all who arc saved, till 
it change them into the hnagc ol Christ. 

340 



SAINT BAENABAS THE APOSTLE. 



For the Epistle. Acts xi. 22. 

IDINGS of these things came unto 
the ears of the Church which was in 
Jerusalem ; and they sent forth Bar- 
nabas, that he should go as far as 
Antioch. Who, when he came, and 
had seen the grace of God, was 
glad; and exhorted them all, that 
with purpose of heart they would 
cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full 
of the Holy Ghost, and of faith : and much people was 
added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to 
Tarsus, for to seek Saul. And when he had found him, 
he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that 
a whole year they assembled themselves with the Church, 
and taught much people : and the disciples were called 
Christians first in Antioch. And in these days came 
prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there 
stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by 
the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout 
all the world ; which came to pass in the days of Claudius 
Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his 
ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which 
dAvelt in Judaea. Which also they did, and sent it to the 
elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. 

The Epistle. — St. Barnabas was bom at Cyprus, but of the tribe of Levi, His early education 
was intrusted to the celebrated Gamaliel, under whose care he became deeply imbued, like his 
fellow- student St. Paul, with all the knowledge and all the prejudices current in his day. Like 
St. Paul, too, he was originally a bitter persecutor of the believers in Christ ; but the Holy Spirit 
Oldened his understanding to the truth, and while he joyfully embraced the Gospel, he as readily 
gave up the possessions which he inherited from his parents for the good of the Christian com- 
munity. As consecrated with St. Paul to the service of the Gentile world, he laboured long and 
faithfully in the ministry for which he had been set apart. The accounts of his death are uncer- 
tain, but the more generally received tradition is, that he was stoned to death by the Jews at 
Salamis. It is not unworthy of observation, that the two men who were especially devoted to the 
preachmg of Jesus Christ among the polished Greeks, had been converted when in a state of- 
affluence ; and were fitted, as well by the places of their birth as by education, to know what were 
the chief difficulties that stood in the way of Gentile conversions. But if means of good were 
hereby secured, they only became means when taken and converted to use by the Holy Spuit ; for 
before He changed them they were as indissoluble bonds, eifectually preventing Paul and Bar- 
nabas, like others endowed with the same apparent advantages, from seeing or lovmg truth. 

341 ' 




SAINT BAENABAS THE APOSTLE. 



The Gospel St. John xv. 12. 

HIS is my commandment, That ye 
love one another, as I have loved 
you. Greater love hath no man 
than this, that a man lay down his 
life for his friends. Ye are my 
friends, if ye do whatsoever I com- 
mand you. Henceforth I call you 
not servants ; for the servant know- 
eth not what his lord doeth : but I have called you 
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father 
I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, 
but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should 
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fi'uit should 
remain ; that Avhatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in 
my Name, he may give it you. 

The Gospel. — The lesson of heavenly love was well learnt by Barnabas. It found in him 
faculties sanctified and prepared for understanding it in all its applications. The first interpreta- 
tion which he gave to tlie words of Christ led him to become a messenger of mercy to his fellow- 
men ; and this office he performed with so much fidelity and earnestness, that to him was especially 
given the title of a Son of Consolation. In the next degree of his illumination, he rejoicingly gave 
up his wealth, and thus again fulfilled the commandment, " That ye love one another." There was 
still another step in the practical spiritualizing of our Lords saying, "Greater love hath no 
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ;" and again Barnabas, with glad 
devotion, answered to the requirement ; for rather than shrink from making known to the bitterest 
enemies of holiness the means of pardon and salvation, he exposed himself to the power of their 
malice, and finally laid down his life a willing offering on the shrine of charity. By this he 
manifested that he was not merely a servant of Christ, but that the Saviour, by His Spirit, had 
made him His friend, and that He had sealed to him the most comprehensive of His promises, 
" That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you." The interj^reta- 
tion which the first disciples of Christ gave to the words of their Master was that which proved its 
truth by results correspondmg to the mind of the Spirit. He had chosen and ordained them that 
they might be profitable in sowing the seeds of righteousness in the world ; and keeping this 
unalterably in view, they resigned themselves wholly to the performance of His will. But it was 
not by a mere passive acquiescence that they manifested their obedience and fidelity. They 
determined and acted as with minds suddenly set free, and intent on discovering how they might 
best prove their love, and most effectually execute their task. "I call you not servants," were 
words that had sunk deep into their hearts. They rejoiced in being the friends of their adorable 
Lord ; and they strove to show that their affection responded to His, — not in words, tlioughts, or 
actions, separately considered, but in all, combined together by one common principle of love, and 
proceeding from the inexhaustible fountain of grace which He had Himself opened for their sanc- 
tification. They knew His will, and did it. But Christians, in all ages, are under the same law. 
They are the friends of Christ, if truly converted by His Spirit ; and in this happy relation to the 
Saviour of the World, the proper uupulses of their nature urge them uniformly forward in the 
exercise of holiness and charity. His words have been interpreted as those of a Being whose will 
it is that they should rise to glory by overcoming the powers of evil, and that in tlie strife they 
should regard themselves as struggling for the honom- of Him to whom they are indebted for both 
life and hope. 

342 




Saint John Baptists Day. 




LMIGHTY GOD, by whose pro- 
vidence thy servant John Baptist 
was wonderfully born, and sent to 
prepare the way of thy Son our 
Saviour, by preaching of repentance ; 
Make us so to follow his doctrine 
and holy life, that we may tru.ly repent according to 
his preaching ; and after his example constantly 
speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently 
J suffer for the truth's sake; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



The Collect. — The necessity of repentance, as a preparative to the actual reception of the 
Gospel, renders John the Baptist's sermons necessary even to this present day. He announced 
the coming of the Son of God by signs and declarations the most significant of evangelical purity. 
Those who listened to his words could not fail to perceive, that if they were to receive the mighty 
Being who was coming for their deliverance, tliey must acknowledge Him in the ways of severe 
holiness. It is almost impossible that those long immersed in sin should, without violence to 
themselves, be fit to follow Christ. John the Baptist's doctrine of repentance must be well under- 
stood and practised— if not in the proposition, yet in the spirit— before we can die unto sin, humbly 
submitting to bear the Cross, and fulfilling all the other parts of the covenant of regeneration. 

343 



SAINT JOHN BAPTISTS DAY. 




For the Epistle. Isai. xl. 1. 

OMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, 
saith your God. Speak ye comfort- 
ably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her. 
That her Avarfare is accomplished ; 
that her iniquity is pardoned : for 
she hath received of the Lord's hand 
double for all her sins. The voice 
of him that crieth in the wilderness, 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the 
desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be 
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, 
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough 
places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be re- 
vealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth 
of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said. Cry. And 
he said. What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the 
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass 
withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the 
Lord blow^eth upon it : surely the people is grass. The 
grass withereth, the flower fadeth ; but the word of our 
God shall stand for ever. Zion, that bringest good 
tidings, get thee up into the high mountain ; Jerusalem, 
that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength ; 
lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, 
Behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come with 
strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him : behold, his 
reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall 
feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall gather the lambs 
with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently 
lead those that are with young. 

The Epistle.— It was only by the foresight and anticipation of days of restitution that God's 
people of old were enabled to support the many sorrows which belonged to their state. Tlie 
comfort bestowed on them in the opening of the future, is made to us derivable from the past— iu 
the conversion of prophecy into evidence, and in the employment of their promises fulfilled, to 
assure us tiiat our promises are equally steadfast. Comfort was in every word that Isaiah addressed 
to the people of God. He preached an early Gospel. The lovely visions of peace and joy which 
rose at his word softened the stem majesty of the law ; and listening to him, the trembling crowds 

344 



SAINT JOHN BAPTIST'S DAY. 



The Gospel. St. Luke i. 57. 

LISABETH'S full time came that 
she should be delivered ; and she 
brought forth a son. And her neigh- 
bours and her cousins heard how the 
Lord had shewed great mercy upon 
her ; and they rejoiced with her. 
And it came to pass, that on the 
eighth day they came to circumcise 
the child ; and they called him Zacharias, after the name 
of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not 
so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto- 
her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this 
name. And they made signs to his father, how he would 
have him called. And he asked for a writing-table, and 
wrote, saying, His name is John* And they marvelled 
all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his 
tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And 
fear came on all that dwelt round about them ; and all 
these sayings Avere noised abroad throughout all the hill- 
country of Judaea. And all they that had heard them 
laid them up in their hearts, saying. What manner of 
child shall this be ? And the hand of the Lord was with 
him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the holy 
Ghost, and prophesied, saying. Blessed be the Lord God 
of Israel : for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 
and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the 
house of his servant David ; as he spake by the mouth 

of penitents, that awaited in mute despair tlie exi^ected judgments of Jehovah, learned to hope 
for mercy, and in some degree anticipate the grace of redemption. It is a melancholy thing that 
we should he so little able to place before our minds the real condition of manhind when exposed 
to God's displeasure. The action of His wrath ought to be discoverable by us sooner than any 
other source of evil whatever. But the heavens must be clothed with blackness, or the sword of 
vengeance stretched visibly forth, before we can be persuaded that the sorrows which are begin- 
ning to trouble us are messengers of Divine justice. It is not always that we even then look for 
aid to the mercy of God ; but only a comparatively small portion of the perishing race is found 
rejoicing in the offers of salvation. To them, in whatever age, and in whatever land they live, the 
prophet of God and of Christ speaks : he announces the approach of a Deliverer ; — urges them to 
listen to the voice of His messenger, counselling repentance ; — -and points to Zion, the Chmch, 
and the kingdom of heaven, as soon to rejoice, with all its children, in everlasting freedom ! 

345 2 Y 




SAINT JOHN BAPTIST'S DAY. 



of his holy prophets, which have been since the w^orld 
began; that we should be saved from our enemies, and 
from the hand of all that hate us ; to perform the mercy 
promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy cove- 
nant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 
that he w^ould grant unto us, that we, being delivered out 
of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of 
our life. And thou. Child, shalt be called the Prophet of 
the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord 
to prepare his ways ; to give knowledge of salvation unto 
his people, by the remission of their sins, through the 
tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from on 
high hath visited us ; to give light to them that sit in dark- 
ness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the 
way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in 
spirit ; and w^as in the deserts till the day of his shewing 
unto Israel. 

The Gospel— The circiimstaiices which attended the birth of John seein to have been ordered 
by Divine Providence for two purposes : the first, that all things might have a solemnity pro- 
portioned to the events about to take place ; that they might, in the eyes of angels, or simply in 
accordance with Divine wisdom, be adapted to do honour to the new dispensation ; the second, 
that the few who looked for redemption might be warned of its approach ; and that John himself 
should know, how he had been ordained unto the office of a messenger of the Most High, even 
from his mother's womb. As it was said of our blessed Lord that He should be called Jesus, 
with a particular reference to the meaning of the name, so was His forerunner, for the same reason, 
named John, which means the grace of God ; both names being common among the Jews, but 
receiving a particular sanctity and certainty of interpretation from being thus prophetically given. 
It is interesting to observe in the noble hymn of Zaeharias the return of that illuminating Spirit 
which since the times of Malachi had not spoken by the mouth of man. We seem again to hear 
the em-aptured strains of Isaiah ; and almost to feel as if the ancient prophet had been permitted 
to revisit the eai'tb, to utter his joyful announcement that the days which he had so long foreseen 
were now at hand. Like the venerable Simeon, Zaeharias penetrated into the depths of the 
vision which presented itself to his gaze. To a few it was permitted thus to understand, at the 
beginning, more than the disciples of the Gospel comprehended when it was first preached. But 
Simeon and Zaeharias were not to live to see the actual splendour of the risen Sun. It was 
allowed them, therefore, to drink in joy at the newly-unsealed fountain of prophecy. They knew 
that the day-spring from on high had visited them, for they had long lamented over their sins, 
and those of the nation ; and they felt, through the fresh influence of God's Spirit on their souls, 
that repentance should find a bearing at the throne of grace, and that the perishing soul, conscious 
of its lost condition, might lay hold of the Eock of ages, and. escape the destruction which had 
otherwise inevitably awaited it. The language of true faith was spoken by the lips of Zaeharias. 
He looked for salvation by the remission of sins. The world had almost forgotten that the justice 
of God could not pardon while sins remained um-emitted ; and thus the hope of the patriarchs that 
a Kedeemer would be given — a Saviom- triumphing through the satisfactory atonement of His 
merits, was gradually changed into the vain expectation of a deliverer who should give knowledge 
of salvation, not in the way of remission of sins— not by satisfying God's justice, but by establish- 
ing a kingdom in whicli the present elfcct of sin should be removed, leaving its effect on eternity 
to be proved at tljc day of judgment. 

346 



Saint Peters Day. 




7^^ Collect. 
ALMIGHTY God, who by tliy Son 
Jesus Christ didst give to thy Apos- 
tle Saint Peter many excellent gifts, 
and commandedst him earnestly to 
feed thy flock ; Make, we beseech 
thee, all Bishops and Pastors dili- 
Hii S^^-^^^^^ preach thy holy Word, and the people obe- 
|il diently to follow the same, that they may receive the 
f|| crown of everlasting glory • through Jesus Christ our 
'■^ Lord. Amen. 

The Collect.— PrimitiTe example affords botli a lesson and a noble encouragement to the 
Chnrcli. We learn from it not only what we ought, but what it is possible for us to .do. The 
first preachers of the Gospel were called by Christ, sanctified by Christ, sent by Christ, and by 
Him were continually supported and illuminated. Their word and conduct answered to the 
blessed origin of their ministry. They were wise and holy, patient, laborious, and full of zeal. 
And such, it is intended in tlie dispensation of the Gospel, Christ's ministers should always be ; and 
such, tliey will be in proportion as the Ciiurch faithfully and perseveringiy prays that God"s grace 
may prevent and follow them, making them by its influence the devoted ministers of His mercy. 

The Epistle. — The dangers to which our Lord's disciples were exposed, are those wMch truth . 
and virtue have ever had to encounter at the hands of corrupt power. But the resistance which 
they made was peculiar to themselves. The ordinary passions which indignation inspii-es were in 
their case subdued. Xo arms were su^Dplied them either by their own excited feelings or by the 
fury of a party. Their simple means of defence were found in the deep tranquillity of settled con- 
victions,— in the essential power of truth. and wisdom, bestowed from above. And when the perils 

347 



SAINT PETEE'S DAY. 



For the Epistle. Acts xii. 1. 

m. BOUT that time Herod the king 
stretched forth his hands to vex 
certain of the Church. And he 
killed James the brother of John 
with the sword. And, because he 
saw it pleased the Jews, he pro- 
ceeded further to take Peter also. 
(Then were the days of unleavened 
bread,) And when he had apprehended him, he put him 
in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers 
to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to 
the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison ; but 
prayer w^as made without ceasing of the Church unto God 
for him. And when Herod ^vould have brought him forth, 
the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, 
bound with two chains ; and the keepers before the door 
kept the prison. And behold, the angel of the Lord came 
upon him, and a light shmed in the prison ; and he smote 
Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying. Arise up 
quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the 
angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals ; 
and so he did. And he saith unto him. Cast thy garment 
about thee, and follow me. And he went out and fol- 
lowed him ; and wist not that it was true which was done 
by the angel ; but thought he saw a vision. When they 
were past the first and the second ward, they came unto 
the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened 

that surrouncleclr them seemed to have broken the defences which could thus be set up, ihay were 
protected by an interference, the power of which was mighty enough to silence the wrath of hell ; 
but it wrought so silently, and with such a complete independence of external helps, that they 
remained as before, with no other distinction among mankind than that which was bestowed by 
purity, humility, and the most gentle wisdom of heart and spirit. The incident here recorded of 
St. Peter furnishes a beautiful illustration of the circumstances in which the Ajoostles were placed. 
Suljject continually to the wanton cimelties of tyranny, they patiently yielded to its inflictions, 
resisting in no other way than by still speaking, in the name of Christ, of the pardon of sins, and 
everlasting life. Thrown into a dungeon, St. Peter peacefully awaited the further dictates of his 
heavenly Master. His condition at the moment appeared as low as it could be ; but He was then 
on the very confines of heaven. Heaven extended itself, like an increasing sea, to the darlnicss 
of the dungeon. " A light shined in the prison and an angel became liis deliverer. 
348 




SAINT PETEE'S DAY. 



to them of his own accord ; and they went out, and 
passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel 
departed from him. And when Peter was come to him- 
self, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath 
sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of 
Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the 
Jews. 

The Gospel. St. Matth. xvi. 13. 

HEN Jesns came into the coasts of 
C^sarea Philippi, he asked his chsci- 
ples, saying, Whom do men say that 
I, the Son of man, am? And they 
said. Some say that thou art John 
the Baptist, some Elias, and others 
Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 
He saith unto them. But whom say 
And Simon Peter answered and said, 
Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus 
answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-jona : for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also 
unto thee. That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build my Church ; and the gates of hell shah not prevail 
against it. And I will give unto thee tlie keys of the 
kingdom of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on 
earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth shah be loosed in heaven. 




ye that I am? 



The Gospel— Our blessed Lord did not press the understandings of His Apostles with verloal 
arguments of His divinity, or explications of the mystery of grace. To their desire for knowledge 
He answered with affectionate readiness ; but He did not anticipate their willingness, or power, 
to bear the burden of those truths, which can only steadily rest on the foundation of a heavenly 
Spirit. Hence His rebukes when they had not advanced proportionably to the gradual instruction 
which He gave them ; and hence His questionings, to try the amount of knowledge which at a 
certain period tliey possessed. The truth most necessary to their present state was that which 
respected His Messiahship and divinity. His miracles and discourses had all a primary regard to 
the proof of tins, that He was the Christ, and the Son of God. The instructions which He ]iad 
given were already sufficient to establish this great truth ; but it seems to have been apprehended 
more completely, more intensely and joyfully, by some of the Apostles than by others. St. Peter 
Avas the foremost of those who saw with gTeatest clearness the character of his adorable Master ; 
and now that he was examined as to the point, he proclaimed that he knew Him, both in His office 
and in His nature, to be what the prophets had foretold the Saviour must needs be who was to 

349 



Saint James the Apostle. 




EANT, merciful God, that as 
thine holy Apostle Saint James, 
leaving his father and all that he 
had, without delay was obedient unto 
the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, 
and followed him ; so we, forsaking 
all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore 
ready to follow thy holy commandments ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 



come into the world. For tMs confession of belief, St. Peter received a signal blessing. ' His name 
was changed, and he received an appellation whicli thenceforward connected liis declaration of 
faith with that by which the Church at large stands secure against the assaults of Satan. Under 
whatever light we regard the blessing, it cannot be disconnected with the faith to which it was 
given. The person of Peter could not be made a rock for the everlasting Church of Christ : the 
words of Peter could have no mystic value in them : the doctrine alone was the object regarded by 
Christ; — that doctrine which has brought successive generations to the mercy-seat of Heaven; — 
and by the manifold applications of which to the pm-poses of justice and of love, things are bound 
and loosed on earth, even as they are, according to the eternal laws and decrees of God, in heaven. 
St. Peter, after his release from prison, as above related, is supposed to have travelled into the 
coimtries named in the introduction to his first epistle. It is known, however, on better authority, 
that he took up his final abode at Eome, where he died a martyr in the reign of Nero. Being 
subjected to the punishment of crucifixion, he entreated that he might be allowed to suffer with 
his head downwards, regarding it as unfit that he should hang upon the cross, hallowed by his 
dying Lord, without some deep expression of humilitv. 

350 



SAINT JAMES THE APOSTLE 



For the Epistle. Acts xi. 27, and part of Chap. xii. 

N those days came prophets from 
Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there 
stood up one of them named Agabus, 
and signified by the Spirit, that there 
should be great dearth throughout all 
the world ; which came to pass in 
the days of Claudius Caesar. Then 
the disciples, every man according 
to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren 
which dwelt in Judaea. Which also they did, and sent it 
to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Now 
about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands 
to vex certain of the Church. And he killed James the 
brother of John with the sword. And because he saw 
it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter 
also. 

The Gosp)d. St. Matth. xx. 20. 

HEN came to him the mother of 
Zebedee's children with her sons, 
worshipping him, and desiring a 
certain thing of him. And he said 
unto her, What wilt thou? She 
saith unto him. Grant that these my 
two sons may sit, the one on thy 
right hand, and the other on the left, 
in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said. Ye know 

The CoLLECT.—The love of the world opposes, at every point, tlie love of God. This principle, 
so hostile to that of holiness, springs from the corruption of our nature, and is cherished by our 
passions under a profound ignorance of the value or the worthlessuess of the objects which solicit 
our attention. In this state of things we shrink with terror at the thought of leaving the world for 
God. Yet it is by this act of faith that not only Apostles, but all followers of Christ, must begin 
their course. There are the strongest of all reasons, therefore, to induce us to adopt the language 
of this Collect, and pray that grace may set us free from the entanglements of a sensual life, and 
raise our affections to those nobler objects which can never lose either their beauty or their value. 

The Epistle. — James, surnamed the Great, to distinguish him from the other James, and pro- 
bably on account of his age, shared with his brother John and with St. Peter the peculiar regard 
and confidence of our Lord. Like his brother also he received the high-sounding title of Boanerges, 
or a son of thunder. Wliy this latter appellation was given him it is not easy to determine. The 

351 





SAINT JAMES THE APOSTLE. 



not what ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I 
shall drmk of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I 
am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 
And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, 
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
with : but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not 
mine to give ; but it shall be given to them for whom it 
is prepared of my Father. And when the ten heard it, 
they were moved with indioiiation ap^ainst the two 
brethren. But Jesus called them unto him, and said. Ye 
know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion 
over them, and they that are great exercise authority 
upon them. But it shall not be so among you : but 
whosoever will be great among you, let him be your 
mmister; and whosoever mil be chief among you, let 
him be your servant : even as the Son of man came not 
to be mmistered unto, but to minister, and to giA^e his life 
a ransom for many. 

most probable conjecture is, tliat it was bestowed in reference to the power and sublimity with 
which both he and John demonstrated Christ to bs the Messiah, and the appointed Judge of the 
world. The traditions respecting this Apostle deserve little credit. It is said that soon after our 
Lord's ascension he went into -Spaino and even laid the foundations of a chui-ch in this coimtry. 
But the mention of these chcumstances rests on a very slight basis, and all that we know for cer- 
tainty of him is to be gathered from the notice here given of his death by the writer of the Acts. 
- The Gospel. — The incident recorded in this Gospel shows tliat even tbe words of our Lord, 
personally addressed to His followers, had not prevailed over worldly pride and ambition. The 
time was yet to come when He should put forth the power of His mercy, and afford a means for 
the changing of the heart, not necessarily connected with His preliminary addresses. Heaven 
had still to be jDropitiated, and its glories therefore were not revealed ; while the human mind knew 
little of the abstract beauty of a pure morality, or of the rewards which belong to virtue, inde- 
pendently of the world or its opinions. Nothing, consequently, remained for the disciples of 
Christ, when calculating the probable results of their fidelity, but the hope that, when He restored 
the kingdom unto Israel, they might be admitted to exalted situations in His government ; — that, 
acknowledged as His friends and brothers, they might share His riches and he made glorious by 
His triumphs. The errors which sprung from thoughts of this kind took too firm a hold of the 
hearts of the disciples to be dissipated by exhortation; but though not to be conquered by atight 
but the Spirit of regenei-ation, they were kept in subjection by the wisdom of Christ. Pride, 
ambition, avarice, were by turns convicted of folly ; and in only one awful iiLstance among Christ's 
chosen followers did the power of evil overcome the benign influence of His rebuke. Judas fell ; 
but the sons of Zebedee learned to regard humility as of higher worth than the splendour of 
thrones ; Peter, who denied his Master, wept till he was forgiven ; and Thomas, who at first dis- 
believed His re.-.ui rection, was one of the most ready to suffer in the assertion of its truth. Judas 
could perisli though he liad heard the word of Christ and seen His miracles. The other Apostles 
erred, but did not finally fall. Blessed be they wlio feel themselves constantly sti-engthened and 
guided by the Holy Ghost I 



352 



Saint BartholomeiD the Apostle. 





1! 



ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
who didst give to thine Apostle Bar- 
tholomew grace truly to believe and 
to preach thy AVord ; Grant, we be- 
seech thee, unto thy Church, to love 
that word which he believed, and 
both to preach and receive the same ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect.- As no man can say that Jesus is tlie Christ, that is, the anointed Saviour of 
the worhl, except by the Divine Spirit, so can no one without the help of His grace believe or 
preach His Gospel. The zeal, therefore, which ui ged Apostles forward till they filled the w^rld 
with the knowledge of a Saviour, was the immediate gift of God. Without His grace they would 
soon have ceased to regard the Gospel as of worth sufficient to claim the sacrifice of hfe in its 
cause ; and what respect for its doctrines less than this would have availed in the conflict which 
they had to wage? But m every period the religion of Christ, as existing in the heart of man, 
depends for its power on the grace of the Spirit. To believe, or love, or preach the Gospel, we 
are always equally dependent on the gift of God. 

353 2 z 



SAINT BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE. 




For the Epistle. Acts v. 12. 

Y the hands of the Apostles were 
many signs and wonders wrought 
among the people: (and they were 
all with one accord in Solomon's 
porch : and of the rest durst no man 
join himself to them: but the people 
magnified them : and believers were 
the more added to the Lord, multi- 
tudes both of men and women :) insomuch that they 
brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on 
beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter 
passing by might overshadow some of them. There 
came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto 
Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were 
vexed with unclean spirits ; and they were healed every 
one. 

The Gospel, St. Luke xxii. 24. 

ND there Avas also a strife among 
them, which of them should be ac- 
counted the greatest. And he said 
unto them. The kings of the Gen- 
tiles exercise lordship over them; 
and they that exercise authority 
upon them are called benefactors. 
Bat ye shall not be so : but he that 
is greatest among you, let him be as the younger ; and he 

The Epistle— Bartholomew is generally believed to have been the same person as Nathaniel. 
Tliis opinion is grounded on the circumstance tl)at Nathaniel is named by St. John only, while, 
on the other hand, Bartholomew is not once mentioned by that Evangelist. It has been sug- 
gested, moreover, that the piety and other qualifications of Nathaniel, together with his early 
can as a follower of Christ, seem to have fitted him for the Apostleship in so high a degree, that 
it would be dilficult to account for his not being named when Matthias was chosen, if he was 
not already an Apostle. Most of the old writers are of this opinion. Augustine objects to the 
notion on the principle, that Nathaniel's reputed learning would have unfitted him for the ofiice, 
the otlier Apostles having been chosen from among unlettered men, that human acquirements 
might liavc no share in the establishing of the Gosjjel. To this it is answered, that if such an 
argument were valid, neither St. Philip nor St. Paul, who were both learned, would have been 
elected to the Apostleship. 

354 




SAINT BAETHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE. 



that is chief, as he tliat doth serve. For whether is 
greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth ? is not 
he that sitteth at meat ? but I am among you as he that 
serveth. Ye are they which have continued with me in 
my temptations. And T appoint unto you a kingdom, as 
my Father hath appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and 
drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

The Gospel.— Jesus, in His address to Nathaniel, spoke as one to whom the secrets of the 
heart are at all times open. It was by the same penetrating wisdom that He knew how to rebuke 
His disciples when pride and other worldly passions were working in their bosoms. An ambitious 
desire to be accounted greatest is generally the prevailing vice among some of the members of 
every society ; and, yielding to this fatal disposition, they not only sacrifice their own peace, the 
principles of brotherly union, and whatever there maybe of a beneficial tendency in their system, 
but incite in the minds of others a cor resjD ending degree of hate, jealousy, and revenge. . The 
lit ad of any community, therefore, has great reason to dread the ruin of his designs, when pride 
and selfishness begin to manifest themselves among his people. Our Lord would have proved 
His wisdom by the lessons which He gave His disciples on this point had he been watching over 
only their worldly interests. But, considered in respect to holiness, the desire to be greatest is 
incompatible with every principle which religion 1ms made known to us. Hiunility softens, pride 
hardens, the heart : humility suMues selfishness — pride is the worship of self : humility worships 
at the foot of the Cross — pride mounts the throne, and counts the Cross a shame. The Gospel 
for this day is said to have been chosen because it is supposed to represent our Lord's reproof of 
a dispute which had arisen in consequence of Bartholomew's superior worldly rank. But as this 
is mere conjecture, the reader will do well to add to the lessons of the day the account of Nathaniel's 
call in tlio first chapter of St. John. This eminent servant of God, after preaching tlie Gospel m 
the East, died, it is reported, by a most cruel martyrdom, having been first flayed alive, and then 
crucified, like St. Peter, with his head downwards. The promise with which our Lord encouraged 
His Apostles belongs to all, of whom it may be spiritually said, that they have continued with 
Him in His temptations. " I am crucified with Christ," was said by St. Paul, while the grand 
support of his heart was the contemplation of Christ's glory. And again, " If we have been 
planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection ; 
knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, 
that henceforth we should not serve sin." — Kom. vi. 5, 6. And, "It is a faithful saying : For if 
we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him : if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." — 
2 Tim. ii. 11, 12. By the proper applicalion of these Apostolic sayings, we shall learn how 
Chiisliiins in all ages may be partakers with Christ in His sufferings, and prove their fidelity by 
continuing wilh Him till, through temptation, they arrive at peace and glory. For them, as well 
as for the Apostles, He has appointed a kingdom ; and though there may be a j^eculiar degree of 
eminence reserved for some, and the thrones of those who are to judge the twelve tribes of Isi-ael 
be set higher than the rest, yet there is this honour and blessing promised to all who suffer with 
Christ, they shall eat and drink at His table, in His kingdom. The words of our Lord are to be 
interijreted according to what we know of His Divine and pei feet love, and of the natm-e of the 
happy realms over which He reigns. To eat and chink at His table implies a blessed state of 
communion, continual enjoyment of converse, with the most exalted and the most benign of beino-s. 
It implies, moreover, a full participation in the boundless good of celestial regions ; nor can that 
good, on any principle of right reason, be regarded as less desirable because the present imper- 
fection of our nature does not allow us to perceive in what manner it will fill our spirits with a 
complete and intense satisfaction. The highest degree of happiness after which we sigh even in 
this world, presents but a vague and indefinite prospect. We can with difficulty analyze our 
feelings, but we look confidently to enjoyment when the hour of possesfcion shall arrive. In this 
instance we rest upon the most uncertain of promises, In that of religion we have the word of 
Gotl fur .-(.(jurity. 



355 



Saint JIaUhew the Apostle, 



The Collect, 
ALMIGHTY God, 
who b)^ tliy blessed 
Son didst call Mat- 
tlie^v from the receipt 
of custom, to be an 
Apostle and Evange- 
list; Grant ns grace 
to forsake all covetous desires, and inor- 
dinate love of riches, and to follow the 
same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth 
and reignetli with thee and the Holy 
Ghost, one God, world Avithout end. 
Allien. 



The Collect. —The call oi God is iu all cases a call to honour 
and prosperity, whatever be our situatiou when it reaches us. Worldly 
affairs can never deserve the chief attention of an immortal being, 
l;e:'ause, however great the success attending them, it can but bestow 
tliat which is ti-ausitory, and in itself unfitted to satisfy the higher 
faculties of the soul. A call to holiness, therefore, necessarily im- 
proves our condition, inasmuch as it puts us in a capacity for gaining substantial blessings — a 
happiness and a glory as permanent as the desire which prompts us to their pursuit. St. iMatthew 
was signally favoured in being not only called to the Apostleshiij, but made a m.edium for com- 
municating to mankind, throughout all generations, the knowledge of Christ and his doctrines. 
It is not, however, to those only who are thus conspicuously employed iu the service of God that 
His call brings honour and salvation. On all who hear it, and cherish it in obedient hearts, it 
confers a sure title 'to the joys of heaven. With good reason, therefore, may we pray that the 
Divine Message may reach our heai'ts, and set us free to pursue in Spirit the path on which Christ 
has summoned us to follow Him. But while we ackiKAvledge the expediency of obeying this 
truth, we ought with equal readiness to adopt the essential preparative of forsaking all covetous 
desires, and inorainate love of riches. Desire, fixed upon any one object whatever which is not 
intimately connected with the interests of eternity, necessarily narrows the mind, fills it with pre- 
judices, and exposes it perpetually to the tyranny of the lowest and the meanest of the passions. 
In such a condition of feeling, it is impossible that we should discern the beauty which sheds its 
lustre over the doctrines of Cliriat. The heart has hardened itself against such influences : the spirit 
refuses to be enlightened by light that comes pure from heaven. Yet su.h, unhappily, is the state 
of most , men. Nominal Christianity satisfies them. They remain unchanged in nature while 
professing to Ijelieve in a regenerating Sphit ; —worldly, while acknowledging that the world is 
at enmity with God ;— and entirely occupied with the things which are seen, wliilc they verbally 
own that they are perishaldc, and not wortliy to be compared with the invisible riches of God's 
kingdom. Tm ouaneiji ..lu-eh,- liyoii the triuumelo wdiich keep the world iu bondage, we 
must act I'oth with mei- wi-duui and wkli mure sincerity, 

356 




SAINT MATTHEW THE APOSTLE. 



The Epistle, 2 Cor. iv. 1. 

HE RE FORE seeing we have this 
ministry, as we have received mercy, 
we faint not ; but have renounced 
the hidden things of dishonesty, not 
walking in craftiness, nor handling 
the Word of God deceitfully, but by 
manifestation of the truth commend- 
ing ourselves to every man's con- 
science in the sight of God. But if our Gospel be hid, it 
is hid to them that are lost : in whom the God of this 
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, 
lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the 
image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach 
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves 
your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded 
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our 
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
God, in the face of Jesus Christ. 

The Epistle. — An occasional withdrawing from tlio world is necessary to Christians of every 
class, and especially to those whose office it is to attend upon the service of the sanctuary. But 
while this is the lesson of Scripture and reason respecting a literal and outward separation from 
the multitude, its instruction in reference to our spiritual separation is given in a language far 
more definite and exclusive. By this we are taught, that as liglit is opposite to darkness, so is 
God to Mammon and Christ to Belial ; that, as the world is ever on the side of the latter, faith- 
ful and consistent believers are prevented, both by their state and their regenerate nature, from 
holding communion with its people ; and that, as they have been invested wit] i singular respon- 
sibilities, so they can only fulfil them by altogether renouncing " the hidden things of dishonesty," 
manifesting the power of that divine light which has shone not only on the page of the revelation 
which they read, but in their hearts and in their spirits. This light is the efliilgence of truth, the 
proper light of the soul, and is therefore traced to " the knowledge of the glory of God, ' i-evealing 
Himself to humanity in the perfect humanity of His Son. To open a path to forgiveness without 
compromising the justice of God ; — to justify sinners without violating the dignity of the law ; — 
to deliver from hell without favouring corruption ;~to confer life on those who had been con- 
demned to die, and yet leave to the Judge of all His credit for equity, and an undiminished 
authority — these were the objects secured by Christ's atonement. Yet more : to enable men to 
love the law as well as obey it ;— to change, purify, and exalt their nature ;— to bestow upon them 
the means and assurance of everlasting life ;— to make them citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem 
—these were the other blessings secured when Christ sealed the instrument of our redemption. 
Let us consider, for an instant, the condition of those who, living in a civilized country, despise 
equally the comforts and the decencies of civilization ; or of those who, placed within the reach 
of abundant and valuable knowledge, obstinately prefer a gross and most miserable ignorance. 
We shall then be able to form some faint notion of the state of those who refuse to admit the 
light, or accept the privileges, derivable from a religion like that of Christ ; and how truly it may 
be said, that, " If the Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." 
'357 




SAINT MATTHEW THE APOSTLE. 



The Gospel. St. Matth. ix. 9. 

ND as Jesus passed forth from 
thence, he saw a man named Mat- 
thew, sitting at the receipt of cus- 
tom : and he saith unto him, FoUow 
me. And he arose, and followed 
him. And it came to pass, as Jesus 
sat at meat in the house, behold, 
many Publicans and sinners came, 
and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the 
Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eatetli 
your Master with Publicans and sinners ? But when 
Jesus heard that, he said unto them. They that be whole 
need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go 
ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and 
not sacrifice; for I am not come to call the righteous, 
but sinners to repentance. 

The Gospel. — Matthew was one of the persons employed to collect the money paid on mer- 
chandise carried across the lake of Galilee. The term publican originally pertained only to the 
honourable and wealthy Komans who farmed the public revenues. By degrees it was applied to 
agents in the conquered provinces, who, agreeing to return a certain sum to the treasury of Kome, 
practised the worst arts of extortion to secure their own aggrandizement. Matthew belonged to 
the class of publicans either by a farther extension of the meaning of the term, or by having a 
share in the collecting of the taxes in general, as well as holding the office which took him to the 
borders of the lake. Lightfoot quotes some curious questions and remarks of the Jewish Eabbi 
on the character of publicans. "When," said they, " are publicans to be reckoned for thieves? 
When he is a Gentile, or when of himself he takes that office upon him, or when, being deputed 
by the Mng, he doth not exact the set sum, but exacts according to his own will." " Therefore," 
it is added, " the father of Kabbi Zeira is to be reputed for a rare person, who, being a publican 
for thirteen years, did not make the burdens of the taxes heavier, but rather eased them." Again, 
" When the king laid a tax to be exacted of the Jews, of each according to his estate, these pub- 
licans being deputed to proportion the thnig, became respecters of persons, burdening some and 
indulging others, and so became plunderers." Those who redeemed the taxes, and then collected 
them as their own, were called the greater publicans. Thus it is said, " Sometimes there is a 
greater publican, to whom it is very grievous to stand at the bridge all the day long. He there- 
fore substitutes an inferior or lesser publican." Matthew was evidently a man of some wealth. 
Tlie Pharisees, who were generally persons of importance, resorted to his house, and he possessed 
the means of entertaining an assembly more numerous than would have met round the board of 
an inferior host. His ready obedience to the call of Christ afitbrds a noble proof of the faith and 
devotion which occupied his soul. A lucrative employment, a well-stored house, and numerous 
friends, were oil left wlien he became a follower of Him who had not where to lay His head. The 
command of our blessed Lord, " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations," dispersed the main body 
of His chosen servants, iniinediatcly after His ascension, into various regions of the earth. St. 
Matthew, it is said, selected Ethiopia as the scene of his labours; and, like so many others of his 
coni])anions in the work of t vangelizing the world, he clorjcd a career fruitful in benefits and 
dangers by martyrdom, 

358 




Saint Michael and all Angels. 




The 
Collect. 

Everlasting 
God, who 
hast ordain- 
ed and con- 
stituted the 
services of 
Angels and 



wonderful order ; 
grant, that as thy 
holy Angels alway do thee ser- 
vice in heaven, so by thy ap- 
pointment they may succour and 
defend us on earth ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Collect.— It lias pleased our Alruighty Father to afFord us only such glimpses of the eco- 
nomy of Heaven as may interest our hearts, and fill us with assurances of good, while curiosity is 
left to rebuke itself for all its vain efforts to become wise above that which is written. From the 
slight intimations given us in Scripture of the nature and employments of angels, we learn that 
they are not invested in the grossness of flesh and blood, but that they are pure, spiritual, and 
incorruptible ; that their most glorious employment consists in hymning the praises of the eternal 
Father ; and that at His dictation, sympathizing by their own benevolent nature with our fallen 
race, they often perform works of mercy for us, acting unseen as our guides and guardians through 
the dark labyrinths of the world. As therefore it is consistent with our state to pray that God 
would make the elements of the natural universe instrumental to our good, it is equally so that 
we should entreat Him to appoint the bright ranks of the intelligent beings that form His hosts 
in heaven to succour us in our earthly turmoil. A lesson of deep interest is taught us by the con- 
sideration of this subject. The angels are in communion with the people of God. They are sent 
forth to minister to them ; and, though invisible, doubtlessly perform many an act of holy friend- 
ship, warding off danger, or pouring around the objects of their care the sweet and wholesome 
influences of heavenly peace. The services which the angels ofier to God are those of intense and 
perfect love, which becomes a necessary principle in the ]iature of any being in proportion to his 
wisdom, purity, and excellency of spiritual constitution. And it is from this essential character 
of the blessed angels, and from our knowledge of their employment in the presence of God, that 
we are enabled to understand how they become ministering spirits unto us. God's love is the 
source of whatever good, or expectation of good, we can enjoy ; and under the mighty impulse 
which it gives, the angels waft themselves into regions of trouble and distress which otherwise 
they had never visited. 

359 



SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS. 



For the Ejnstle. Eev. xii. 7. 




HEEE was war in heaven : Michael 
and his angels fought against the 
dragon, and the dragon fought and 
his angels ; and prevailed not, nei- 
ther was their place found any more 



m 



heav 



en. 



And the great dragon 



the whole world 
angels were cast 



was cast out, that old serpent, called 
the devil and Satan, which deceiveth 
he was cast out into the earth, and his 
out with him. And I heard a loud 
voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation, and 
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of 
his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, 
which accused them before our God day and night. 
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and 
by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their 
hves unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and 
ye that dwell in them. Wo to the inhabiters of the earth, 
and of the sea: for the devil is come down unto you, 
ha^dng great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but 
a short time. 

The Epistle. — To Michael only is applied, in any part of Scripture, tbe title of Archangel. 
The word does not occur in the Old Testament, and in the New is found in only two places. The 
most learned theologians agree in interpreting it as belongiug exclusively to the Son of God. 
Michael is described by Daniel as coming to the assistance of Gabriel, and by St. Jude as con- 
tending with the devil about the body of Moses, in which passage only the name and the title, or 
Michael and Archangel, are found united. Bishop Horsley speaks with great severity of the 
opinions which have 15een entertained by many respecting the ditferent orders of angels. " It has 
been," says he, " for a long time a fi\shion in the chinch to speak very frequently and familiarly 
of archangels, as if they were an order of beings with which we are perfectly well acquainted. 
Some say there are seven of tliem. Upon what solid ground that assertion stands I know not." 
The passage selected for the Epistle w^as evidently chosen on account of its containing an allu- 
sion to the sublime prowess of the archangel in the war of heaven against hell. It is supposed 
by many commentators that the struggle between heathenism and Christianity in the primitive 
times is to be understood by this war. But the grandeur of the language, and the general 
structure of tlie propliecy, seem to point to a yet fiercer and more conclusive conflict. 

The Gospel.— The last verse of the Gospel furnishes the principal theme for our meditation on 
thi - f' A'wA. It is disputed by commentators whether the angels spoken of by om- Lord are to be 
considered as severally the guardian angels of individuals, or as constituting the protection gene- 
rally of GwVs regenerate people. The former opinion is most conmionly adopted, as tliat which 
best answers to tlip nations which the ancient Jews entertained on the subject, and to the belief 
of tbe earlv Cliri--ti;ni>. Srrii)ture testimony is adduced in favour of this opinion. The Apostles 
supposed, when tliey were told of Peter's return from prison, that it was "his angel \" and some 

360 



SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS. 




The Gospel. St. Mattb. xviii. 1. 

T the same time came the disciples 
unto Jesus, saying, Who is the great- 
est m the Kingdom of heaven ? And 
Jesus called a little child unto Mm, 
and set him in the midst of them, 
and said, Verily I say unto you, 
Except ye be converted, and become 
as httle children, ye shall not enter 
into the Kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall 
humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in 
the Kmgdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one 
such little child in my Name, receiveth me. But whoso 
shah offend one of these little ones which beheve in me, 
it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about 
his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the 
sea. Wo unto the world because of offences : for it must 
needs be that offences come : but wo to that man by 
w^hom the offence cometh. Wherefore if thy hand or thy 
foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee : 
it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, 
rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into 
everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it 
out, and cast it from thee : it is better for thee to enter 
into hfe with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be 
cast into heU-fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of 
these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven 
their angels do always behold the face of my Father which 
is in heaven. 

of the ancient fathers supported the notion tiaat every individual has both a bad and a p-ood auo-gl 
attending on him. From an expression in St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians. it seems that ano'els 
were regarded at the beginning of the Christian Church with too high a veneration. " Let no man 
beguile you," says he, "of a reward in a voluntary humility, and worshipping of ano-els " But 
this warning, it appears, did not prevent the spreadmg of the error alluded to Several of the 
heretics of primitive tunes were charged with the foUy of paying divine honoui' to angels, and tlie 
council of Laodicea makes express mention of the error as a forsaking of God and of Christ While 
we meditate, then, upon the nature and offices of angels, let us not forget tliat there is' but one 
God, and that He alone is to be worshipped ; and that there is but one Mediator between God and 
men, who can alone render our prayers acceptable at the throne of grace 

•361 3 a 



St. Luke tJc: Ev':r'geUst. 





The CoUrct 

LAIKtHTY Gud. 

who c ailed- 1 Luke 
til e Pliy-ic laii. avIkj s e 
praise i- iii the Gv^v- 
pel. to be an Evan- 
gelist, and Physi- 
cian (jf the suiil : 
that, by the whctle- 
-ome medicines of the doctrine deli- 
vered by him. all the diseases ot our 
-oiils mav be healed : through the 
merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our 
r.<:ird. Amen. 



]\Iay it please th' 



ee. 



The Collect— It was once the boast of pliilosopliy to render the human heart capable of be- 
coming indiflerent io the attacks of pain : and so far as the body and time are considered, it ndght 
properly regard as a trinmph eTery sneeessfnl opi)osition to the power of affliction. Bnt thoiigli it 
be no small advantage to be able to deceiTe onrselyes when the body only is in pam, it is de^larae- 
tion to the whole beuig to become insensible to the diseases which prey upon iJie sooL Ld; "as 
awake to a dne feeling of onr spiritnal weakness and cormption — ^let ns learn that a deatli of the 
most terrible kind mnst speedily follow this state of infirmity, and then we shall not l>e indifferent 
to any advice that is offered ns by the Physician of Sonls. He comes from the Father d Spirits, 
and he brings medicines snfficient to heal all onr sicknesses. May we not despise the Ksmedy by 
a voluntary blindness to the disease ! Ensebins, bishop of Gsesarea, who wrote in the ^tiypart of 
the fonrth centnry, says, " Lnke, who was of Antioch, and by profession a physician, for the most 
part a companion of Panl, who had likewise more than a shgLt acqnaintance with the re^ of the 
Apostles, has left ns in two books, divinely inspired, evidence of the art of healing sonls, wMdi 
he had learned from them. One of these is the Gospel, which he professeth to have written as 
they delivered it to him, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word : 
with aU whom, he says likewise, he had been perfectly acquainted from the very first. The other 
is the Acts of the Apostles, which he composed now, not from what he had received by the report 
of others, bnt from what he had seen with his own eyes. And it is said, that Panl waB wont to 
refer to the G-ospel according to him, whenever in his Epistles, speaking as it were of seme Gospel 
of his own, he says, ' According to my G-ospeL' " The pious stndy of the narrative giren hj 
St. Lnke, will, indeed, prove the means of cure to the worst disorders with which maa, in Lis 
highest natnre, can be effected. And this, not only by the importance of the facts recorded, or 
by their forming for ns a line of light— a safe and manifest path to the knowledge of doctrine, 
bnt by their having a certain power to impress the mind with a sense of G-od's goodness, and 
thereby famish it with principles and emotions fitted to resist effectually the base snggestions and 
poisonous influences of evil. In this we find a remedy to the diseases which have s(0 long pam- 
lysed the lieart, blinded the understanding, and taken from our moral nature in general wlsateTer 
is most gracious and beneficial. 

362 



SAIXT LUKE THE EYAXGELIST. 



TJie Epistle. 2 Tim. iv. 5. 

ATCH tliou in all things, endure 
afflictions, do the work of an Evan- 
gelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 
For I am now ready to be offered, 
and the time of my departm'e is at 
hand. I have fought a good fight, 
I have finished my course, I haA^e 
kept the faith. Henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the rioiiteous Judo^e, shaU give me at that dav : and not 
to me only, but unto aU them also that love his appear- 
ing. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me : for 
Demas hath forsaken me, haA^mg loved this present 
world, and is departed unto Thessalonica ; Crescens to 
Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with m.e. 
Take Mark and bring him ^dih. thee : for he is profitable 
to me for the mmistry. And Tychicus have I sent to 
Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, 
when thou comest, bring with thee ; and the books, but 
especially the parchments. iUexander the copper-smith 
cdd me much evil : the Lord reward him according to his 
works. Of whom be thou ware also, for he hath greativ 
withstood om- words. 

The Epistle— The occurrence of the name of Luke in tliis Epistle is sufficient to justify ifs 
being selected for tlie seryice of the day set apart to comniemorate his lalx)urs. But the simjjle 
manner in Trhich he is mentioned does not render the memorial which it conveys less forcible or 
pathetic. " Only Luke is Tvith me." These words were penned when one of the noblest advocates 
that had ever been raised up to support the cause of truth and holiness stood exposed to the last 
efforts of tyranny for his dt struction. Luke, as we tind from the Acts of the Apostles, a narrative 
written by himself, had been the companion of St. Paul through a large portion of his perilous 
journeys ; and now he was the sole attendant on that devoted servant of God in the season of ap- 
proaching martyrdom. There mnst have been much of noble coDstancy and foiiitude in the 
character of St. Luke to keep him thus watchful of the Apostle's comfort in this trial of faith. 
We may even conjectm-e that the Lord ffimself, ever mindful of the state of His servants, ordered 
it that so devoted a minister of His Gospel as St. Paul miglit not be left withotit the consolations 
of friendship, and that of the highest and purest kind. The testmaony, therefore, borne to the 
character of Luke, in this short and incidental expression of the Apostles Epistle, is sufficient to 
recommend his memory to the affection of the wise and holy of all ages. :May we be as faithful 
to Christ and His people as was this primitive Evangehst, who has taught us so many and such 
valuable truths ! 

363 




SAINT LUKE THE EVANGELIST. 



The Gospel. St. Luke x. 1. 

HE Lord appointed other seventy 
also, and sent them two and two 
before his face into every city and 
place whither he himself would come. 
Therefore said he unto them, The har- 
vest truly is great, but the labourers 
are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord 
of the harvest, that he would send 
forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways ; behold, 
1 send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither 
purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. 
And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be 
to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your 
peace shall rest upon it : if not, it shah turn to you again. 
And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such 
things as they give : for the labourer is worthy of his 
hire. 

The Gospel— St. Luke is supposed to have been one of the seventy disciples ; and as mention 
is made of Luke the beloved physician, he is said to have practised medicine, besides which tradi- 
tion ascribes to him no small proficiency in the art of painting. If he was a native of Antioch, a 
place celebrated for its luxury and refinement, it is not impossible that this tradition may be true, 
though it rests on a basis which can claim but little credit. After leaving St. Paul, he is supposed 
to have travelled into Egypt, and subsequently through several parts of Greece, at last ending a 
life spent in labours in every way profitable to the Church by martyrdom. Jerome, as quoted by 
Dr. Lardner, says, " Luke, a physician of Antioch, not unskilful in the Greek language, a disciple 
of the Apostle Paul, and the constant companion of his travels, wrote a Gospel, and another ex- 
cellent volume, entitled the Acts of the Apostles. It is supposed that Luke did not learn his 
Gospel from the Apostle Paul only, who had not conversed with the Lord in the fiesh, but also 
from other Apostlea. Therefore he wrote the Gospel from the information of others ; but the 
Acts he composed from his own knowledge." Theophylact, another of tlie fathers, says, " There 
are four Evangelists, two of whieh, Matthew and John, were of the choir of the twelve Apostles : 
the other tworMark and Luke, were of the number of tlie Seventy. Mark was a disciple and 
companion of Peter, Luke of Paul. Luke wrote fifteen years after Christ's ascension." Most of 
what is here said, and almost all the populous traditions respecting St. Luke, are rejected by 
Lardner as very suspicious. He doubts the account given of his being a Syrian, and a native of 
Antioch. " We do not," he says, " find it in Irenseus, nor Clement of Alexandria, nor Tertullian, 
nor Origen, nor in any other writer before Eusebius. Probably, therefore, it is not founded on 
any -oiKTal or well-attested tradition; but was the invention of some conjectural writer, who, 
]i;i"viii- first imagined, out of his own head, that Luke was originally a Gentile, at length deter- 
mined that he was converted by Paul at Antioch. But all this was taken up without any good 
ground, or sufficient authority ; and Luke may have been a believer before either Paul or Barna- 
bas went to Antioch." So little is the confidence which can be placed on any information 
merely traditional. 

364 




Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles. 




ALMIGHTY God, who hast built 
thy Church upon the foundation of 
the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus 
Christ himself being the head corner- 
stone ; Grant us so to be joined 
together in unity of spirit by their 
doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple 
acceptable unto thee ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen, 



The Collect. — God was pleased at the beginning, and has ever since exercised a similar mercy, 
to raise up a sufficient number of holy men to communicate the truth to all who were willing to 
receive it. Jesus Christ was the appointed corner-stone of the living temple. Apostles and pro- 
phets were filled with the spirit of holiness that they might lay the foundation in Avords of living 
and substantial power. If on this foundation we are ourselves to be built up, the unity of the 
Spirit must bind us together in one common bond of harmony with all God's people. By this 
alone can we become a holy temple, acceptable to the Lord, through the Saviour Christ. 

365 



SAINT SIMON AND SAINT JUDE. 



The Epistle, St. Jude 1. 

UDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, 
and brother of James, to them that 
are sanctified by God the Father, 
and preserved in Jesus Christ, and 
caUed : Mercj unto you and peace, 
and love be multiphed. Beloved, 
when I gave all diligence to write 
unto you of the common salvation, it 
was needful for me to write unto vou, and exhort vou, 
that ye should earnestly contend for the faith vhich was 
once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain 
men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained 
to this condemnation : ungodly men, turning the grace of 
our God into lasci^dousness, and denvino; the onlv Lord 
God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put 
you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that 
the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of 
Egypt, afterward destroyed them that beheved not. And 
the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their 
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlastino^ chains 
under darkness unto the judgement of the great day. 
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them 
in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and 
going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, 
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also 
these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, 
and speak evil of dignities. 

The Epistle.— Jude, surnamed Thaddteus, or Lebbteus, was the bi-other of James the Less. 
He attached himself to Christ at an early period of the Saviour's labours, and continued faitliful 
unto the end. If tradition can be depended uix)n, he remained in Palestine some time after our 
Lord's ascension. Having finished hiii task in the provinces nearer home, he is said to have 
travelled into Arabia, and then into Syria and Mesopotamia, contimiing to preach the word of 
God, as at first delivered to the saints. It has been reported by some writers that he died a 
martyr in Persia ; but the more general belief is that he spent his last days at Edessa, where he 
was allowed to end his life in the unintenatpted preaching of the Gospel. It is reported, on tlie 
authority of Jerome, that it was Jude who was sent to preach the Gospel to Agbarus, kiug of 
Osroene ; but Eusebius Ktys that Thomas sent to Edessa Thaddfeus, one of Christ's seventy dis- 
disciples, to preacli tlie Gospel there. 

366 




SAINT SIMON AND SAINT JUDE. 



The Gospel. St. John xv. 17. 

HESE things I command you, that 
ye love one another. If the world 
hate you, ye know that it hated me 
before it hated you. If ye were of 
the world, the world would love his 
omi : but because ye are not of the 
world, but I have chosen you out of 
the world, therefore the world hateth 
you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The ser- 
vant is not greater than his lord ; if they have persecuted 
me, they will also persecute you ; if they have kept my 
saying, they mil keep yours also. But all these things will 
they do unto you for my Name's sake, because they know 
not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken 
unto them, they had not had sin : but now they have no 
cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father 
also. If I had not done among them the works which 
none other man did, they had not had sin ; but now have 
they both seen, and hated both me and my Father. But 
this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that 
is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. 
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto 
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which pro- 
ceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye 
also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me 
from the beginning. 

The Gospel. — Simon was surnamed the Canaanite, or Zelotes, to distinguish him from Simon 
Peter. The former of these names has the same meaning in Hebrew which the latter has in 
Greek, and was the cliaracteristic title of those who belonged to the sect of the Zealots. When 
the other Apostles left Jernsalem, Simon, it is said, went to Egypt, and thence into Libya. How 
long he continued there we have no certain means of learning ; but tradition reports that on his 
leaving those parts he came to Britain, where, after preaching the Gospel for some time, he was 
put to death by crucifixion. Tims did our Lords words, " If they have persecuted me, they will 
also persecute you," find a fulfilment in the case of all who devoted themselves to the early 
preaching of His Gospel. Surely we ought frequently to ask ourselves whether the perfect free- 
dom we enjoy while professing the Gospel, may not spring as much from the laxity of our prin- 
ciples and our morals, as from the favourable circumstances in which we are apparently placed. 




367 



A II Saints Day. 




ALMIGHTY God, who has knit 
together thme elect in one commu- 
nion and fellowship, in the mystical 
body of thy Son Christ our Lord ; 
Grant us grace so to follow thy 
blessed Saints in all virtuous and 
godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable 
joys, which thou hast prepared for them that un- 
feignedly love thee ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
] Amen, 



The Collect. — Any strong and deep-seated feeling, shared by many in common, is a sure bond 
of union, so long as its intensity remains undiminished. Hopes and opinions form severally a 
foundation for society, the permanency of which depends more upon the sympathies thus engen- 
dered, than upon law itself But while the family of God is the noblest of all societies, so is it 
established on the best aad most permanent of these binding and concentrating principles. One 
spirit and one faith animate the souls of its members ; if one suffer, all partake in his sufferings ; 
if any rejoice, all rejoice. The triumph of a part over particular temptations, is the triumph of 
tlif \vlir)le Ijody against the common enemy, sin ; and thus he who is made fit, by Divine grace, 
tij bofonio a niember of this happy communion, is carried forward by the power of love to the 
po.-^scs.sion of everlasting joy. 

368 



ALL SAINTS' DAY. 



For the Epistle. Eey. vii. 2, 




I saw another angel ascending 
from the east, having the seal of 
the li^mig God ; and he cried with a 
loud voice to the four angels, to 
whom it was given to hurt the earth, 
and the sea, saying. Hurt not the 
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, 
till we have sealed the servants of 
our God in then foreheads. And I heard the number of 
them which were sealed ; and there were sealed an hun- 
dred and forty and four thousand, of all the tribes of the 
children of Israel. 

Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousancl. 
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Nephthali were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Symeon were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. 
After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which 

The Epistle.— This sublime representation of the gatliering together of the redeemed at the 
last day, is equally ammatmg to the heart and profitable to the sonl. Death has been obliged to 
shrmk even from his own peculiar territory— the grave ; and sm is pursued to its remotest 
hiding-places. The uniTersal Tvorld has heard the message of salvation ; the Spirit of life and 
hohness has poured its light into the dark souls of men ; and evervwhere the earth teems with the 
promise of an everlasting spring. God waits till the converting power of love has completed its 
promise and now the word goes forth ; the regenerate children of Jehovah are signed ..ith the 
name which Christ has .imparted, and awake in deep tranquiUity the final signal that shall set 
them free from earth and from time. Happy and exhilarating is the prospect before us. The 
powers of number are tried to the uttermost to express how many wiU be saved; and yet how 
solemn tne reflection-how replete with warnings which take a deeper tone from the exceedino- 
diftusiveness of Divme mercy, that not one in the vast multitudes here represented as delivered 
^om ciestiuction has been saved, unless sanctified and made wholly contbrmable to the image of 

369 ■ SB 



ALL SAINTS' DAY. 

no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before 
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to 
our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, 
and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell before 
the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, 
Amen ; Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanks- 
giving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our 
God for ever and ever. Amen. 

The Gospel St. Mattli. v. 1. 

ESUS, seeino' the multitudes, went 
A p -'4^^^ ii^to a mountain ; and when he 
was set, his disciples came unto him. 
And he opened his mouth, and taught 
them, saying. Blessed are the poor 
in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom 
of heaven. Blessed are they that 
mourn: for they shall be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righte- 
ousness : for they shall be filled. Blessed are the mer- 
ciful : for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure 
in heart : for they shall see God. Blessed are the peace- 
makers : for they shall be called the children of God. 
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' 

The Gospel— The beatitudes form a fitting subject for the daily contemplation of those who 
seek to become members of tlie houseliold of God. Our Lord opened the principles of His sys-tem 
with a tender and benignant spirit. He might have stated tliem in the stern manner of a law- 
giver, leaving men to determine by their fears merely whether they woukl venture to disobey Him. 
But He mercifully shews, in the first place, tliat each of the principles to which He claimed 
obedience was in itself a good ; for the beatitudes might be read, and would be found true, without 
the addition which He has made to them of a positive and evangelical blessing. And, in the 
second place. He has given a promise to those who fulfil them, which shall add infinitely to the 
happiness natiually derivable from laws so essential to the good of creatures situnt^/d ris v/c no\7 
are. The poor in spirit are happy in themselves; but they have also an immen.-ity of glojy in 
reserve. 

370 




ALL SAINTS' DAY. 



sake : for their's is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are 
ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my 
sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your 
reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets 
which were before you. 




371 



So many as intend to he jpartaJ:ers of tlie My Communion sludl signify tJieir 
names to tJie Curate, at least some time tlie day hefcre. 

And if any of tliose he an open and notorious evil liver, or have done any vrrong 
to liis neighbours hy word or deed, so that the Congregatirn he thereby offended ; 
the Curate, having ^hnoudedge thereof shall call hini and advertise him. that in 
any wise lie presume not to come to the Lord's Tohle. until he hath rperdy 
declared himself to have truly repented and amended his former naughty life, 
that the Congregation may therehy he satisfied, irhich before were offended; 
and thcd he hath recompensed the parties, to ivhom he hath done wroncj ; or at 
least declare himself to he in full purpose so to do, as srjon as he conveniently 
may. 

The same order shcdl the Curcde use with those hetivixt whom he perceivetli 
malice and hcdred to reign; not suffering them to he partahers of the Lords 
Table, until he hiow them to he reconciled. And if one of the parties so at 
variance he content to forgive from the bottom of Ms heart cdl that the ^ ether 
hath trespassed against him, and to mahe amends for that he himself hcdh 
effen^ed : n,vl the oth.er party ivill not be persuaded to a godly unity, hut 
remain still in his froivardness and rncdice : the jlinister in thcd case ought 
to admit die penitent person to tlie holy Communion, and not him that is obsti- 
nate. Provided that every Minister so repelli/ng a y. as is specified in this, or 
the next precedent paragraph of this Bidyrirk. sliaU he o^jliged to give an 
account of the same to the Ordinary ivithin fourtetn days after ad the farthest. 
And the Ordinary ^hcdl proceed against the offending Person according to the 
Canon. 

The Tcdjle, cd the Communion-time, having a fair ivhite linen cloth upon it, 
shall stand in the Body of the Church, or in the Chancel, where jinrning and 
Evening Prayer are apijointed to he scud. And the Priest standing cd the 
Nortli-side of the Tadjle shall say the Lord's Prayer, with the Collect following, 
the peopjle hieeling. 
375 



THE COMMUNION. 




UE Father which art m heaven, 
Hallowed be thy Name. Thy 
Idngdom come. Thy will be 
done in earth, As it is in hea- 
ven. Give us this day om' daily 
bread. And forgive us our tres- 
passes, As we forgive them that 
trespass against us. And lead 
us not into temptation ; But de- 
liver us from evil. Amen. 



The Collect, 

LMIGHTY God, unto whom all 
hearts be open, all desires known, 
and from whom no secrets are hid ; 
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts 
by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, 
that we may perfectly love thee, and 
worthily magnify thy holy Name ; 
through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

^ "^^Jl^t^?*^^ ^'^^ P»'/es^, turning to tlie people, rehearse distinctly all the TEN 
COMMANDMENTS; and the people still hieeling shall, after every Com- 
mandment, ash God mercy for their transgression thereof for the time past and 
. grace to keep the same for the time to come, as foUoweth. 

Minister. 

OD spake these words, and said ; I 
am the Lord thy God: Thou shalt 
have none other gods but me. ' 

People. Lord, have mercy upon 
us, and inchne our hearts to keep 
this law. 

Minister. Thou shalt not make to 
thyself any graven image, nor the 
likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the 
earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou 
shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them : for I the 
Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the 
376 





THE COMMUNION. 



fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth genera- 
tion of them that hate me, and shew mercy unto thousands 
in them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and inchne our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord 
thy God in vain : for the Lord mil not hold him guiltless, 
that taketh his Name in vain. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Eemember that thou keep holy the Sabbath- 
day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou 
hast to do ; but the seyenth day is the Sabbath of the 
Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, 
thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, 
and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is 
withm thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven 
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the 
seventh day : wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, 
and hallowed it. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Honour thy father and thy mother ; that thy 
days may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Thou shalt do no murder. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Thou shalt not steal. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbour. 

377 , 3c 



THE COMMUNION. 



People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our 
hearts to keep this law. 

Minister. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour s house, 
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, 
nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that 
is his. 

People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these 
thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee. . 

IT Then shall folloiv one of these tivo Collects for the Queen, the Priest standing as 

before, and saying. 

Let us pray. 

LMIGHTY God, whose kingdom 
is everlasting, and power infinite; 
Have mercy upon the whole Church ; 
and so rule the heart of thy chosen 
Servant VICTORIA^ our Queen and 
Governour, that she (knowing whose 
minister she is) may above all things 
seek thy honour and glory : and that 
we, and all her subjects (duly considering whose authority 
she hath) may faithfully serve, honour, and humbly obey 
her, in thee, and for thee, according to thy blessed Word 
and ordinance ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with 
thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one 
God, world witliout end. Amen. 

Or, 

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
we are taught by thy holy Word, 
that the hearts of Kings are in thy 
rule and governance, and that thou 
dost dispose and turn them as it 
seemeth best to thy godly wisdom : 
We humbly beseech thee so to dis- 
pose and govern the heart of VIC- 
TORIA thy Servant, our Queen and Governour, that, in 
all her thoughts, words, and works, she may ever seek 
378 





THE COMMUNION. 



thy honour and glory, and study to preserve thy people 
committed to her charge, in wealth, peace, and godliness : 
Grant this, merciful Father, for thy dear Son's sake, 
Jesus Christ om* Lord. Amen. 



^ Then sliall he said the Colled of the Day. And immediately after the Collect 
the Priest shall read the Ejyistle, saying, The Epistle, [or, The portion of Scrip- 
ture appointed for tlie Epistle] is wi'itten in the — Chapter of — beginning at 
the — Verse. And the Epistle ended, he shall say, Here endeth the Epistle. 
Then shall he read the Gospel {the peopjle all standing up), saying, The holy 
Gospel is T^Titten in the — Chapter of — beginning at the — Verse. And the 
Gospel ended, shall he sung or said the Creed following, the people still standing, 
as hefore. 




BELIEVE 
i in one God 
- the Father 
Almighty, 
Maker of 
^ heaven and 
^'Xi^-^^ earth, And 
of ah things 




visible and invisible 



And in one Lord Jesus Christ, 
the only-begotten Son of God, 
Begotten of his Father before 
all worlds, God of God, Light 
of Light, Very God of very 
God, Begotten, not made. Being of one substance with 
the Father ; By whom all things were made, Who for us 
men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, And 
was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin ^lary, 
And was made man, And was crucified also for us under 
Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the 
third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, And 
ascended into heaA^en, And sitteth on the right hand of 
the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge 
both the quick and the dead : Whose kingdom shall have 
no end. 

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and Giver 
379 



THE COMMUNION. 



of life, Who proceedetli from the Father and the Son, 
Who mth the Fatlier and the Son together is worshipped 
and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets. And I believe 
one Catholiek and Apostolick Chnrch. 1 aclmowledge 
one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the 
Eesm-rection of the dead, And the life of the world to 
come. iVmen. 




380 



THE C0M3IUXI0N. 



% Tlien the Curate sIki.U declare urdo tlie jpeojjle u'lmt IMy-days, or Fastinfj-flays, are in 
tlie Weeh folJoiring to he olserved. And then odso (if occasion he) shdl notice Ije given of 
the Cornrnvnion ; and Briefs, Citations, and Excornrnun iced ions read. And nothing shall 
he pi-octairned or ];adJii]n:d in tiie Church, during the time cf Divine Service, hut lij the 
Minister: nor ly him any tiling, hut vvha.t is j/rescrihed, in the Fades of this Booh, or 
enjoined ly the Queen, or ly the Ordinary of the 'jdace. 

^ Then shall fodou: the Sermon, or one of the Eomilies already set forth, or hereafter to he set 
forth, hy authority. 

% Tlien shell the Priest return to the LcrcVs Tahle, and hegin the Offertory, saying one or 
more of these Sentences folloiuing, as he thinhceth most convenient in Jiis discretion. 

LET your light so shine before men, that they may see your 
good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 
St. Matth. Y. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon the earth ; where the 
rust and moth doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and 
steal : but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ; where neithej* 
rust nor moth doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through 
nor steal. St. Matth. vi. 

Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do 
unto them; for this is the Law and the Prophets. St. Matth. vii. 

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 
the Kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father 
which is in heaven. St. Matth. vii. 

Zacchseus stood forth, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the 
half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if I have done any wrong 
to any man, I restore four-fold. St. Luke xix. 

Who goeth a warfare at any time of his own cost ? VTiio planteth 
a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? Or who feedeth a 
flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? 1 Cor. ix. 

If we have sown unto you spiritual things, it is a great matter if 
we shall reap yom- worldly things ? 1 Cor. ix. 

Do ye not know, that they who minister about holy things live 
of the sacrifice ; and they who wait at the altar are partakers with 
the altar ? Even so hath the Lord also ordained, that the}' who 
preach the Grospel should live of the Grospel. 1 Cor. ix. 

He that soweth little shall reap httle ; and he that soweth plen- 
teously shall reap plenteously. Let every man do according as he is 
disposed in his heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity ; for Grod loveth 
a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. ix. 

Let him that is taught in the Word minister unto him that 
teacheth, in all good thicgs. Be not deceived, God is not mocked : 
for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap. Gal. vi. 
381 



THE COMMUNION. 



While we have time, let us do good unto all men ; and specially 
unto them that are of the houshold of faith. GaL vi. 

Godliness is great riches, if a man be content with that he hath : 
for we brought nothing into the world, neither may we carry any 
thing out. 1 Tim. vi. 

Charge them who are rich in this world, that they be ready to 
give, and glad to distribute ; laying up in store for themselves a good 
foundation against the time to come, that they may attain eternal 
life. 1 Tim. vi. 

God is not unrighteous, that he will forget your works, and labour 
that proceedeth of love ; which love ye have shewed for his Name's 
sake, who have ministered unto the saints, and yet do minister. 
Heh, vi. 

To do good, and to distribute, forget not ; for with such sacrifices 
God is well pleased. Heh. xiii. 

Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, 
and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of 
God in him ? 1 St, John iii. 

Give alms of thy goods, and never turn thy face from any poor 
man ; and then the face of the Lord shall not be turned away from 
thee. Toh. iv. 

Be merciful after thy power. If thou hast much, give plenteously : 
if thou hast little, do thy diligence gladly to give of that little : for 
so gatherest thou thyself a good reward in the day of necessity. 
Toh. iv. 

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord : and 
look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again. Prov. xix. 

Blessed be the man that provideth for the sick and needy : the 
Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble. Psal xH. 

^ Whilst time Sentemes are in reading, the Deacons, Churchwardens, or other fit person 
appoi7ited for that purpose, shall receive the Alms for the Poor, and other devotions of the 
pjeople, m a decent bason to he provided hy the Parish for that purpose; and reverently 
bring it to the Priest, ivho shall humbly present and place it upon the holy Table. 

1 And when there is a Communion, the Priest shcdl then flace upon the Table so much 
Bread and Wine, as he shall think sufficient. 

After which done, the Priest shall say, 

Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church miHtant here 

in earth. 

A LMIGHTY and everliving God, who by thy holy Apostle 
hast taught us to make prayers, and supphcations, and to 
give thanks, for all men ; We humbly beseech thee most mercifullv 
382 *^ 



THE COMMUNION. 



\to accejJt our alms and oblatmis, and'] to receive these our 
prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Ma- 
If there he no alms or besecchins^ thcc to inspire continually the 

oblations, then shaU the / ' i -jt ii • -j. i? j ■ ii -i 

■words [of accepting our Universal Church with the spirit ot truth, unity, 
alms and oblations] le coucorcl : And grant, that all they that do 

left out unsaic . coufcss thy lioly Name may agree in the truth 

of thy holy Word, and live in unity, and godly love. We beseech 
thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and 
Governours ; and specially thy servant VICTORIA our Queen ; 
that under her we may be godly and quietly governed : And grant 
unto her whole Council, and to all that are put in authority under 
her, that they may truly and indifferently minister justice, to the 
punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy 
true rehgion, and virtue. Give grace, heavenly Father, to all 
Bishops and Curates, that they may both by their life and doctrine 
set forth thy true and lively Word, and rightly and duly administer 
thy holy Sacraments : And to all thy people give thy heavenly 
grace ; and especially to this congregation here present : that, with 
meek heart and due reverence, they may hear and receive thy holy 
Word ; truly serving thee inhohness and righteousness all the days 
of their life. And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, 
O Lord, to comfort and succour all them, who in this transitory Hfe 
are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. And 
we also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life 
in thy faith and fear ; beseecliing thee to give us grace so to follow 
their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy 
heavenly kingdom : Grant this, Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, 
our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen, 

f When the Minister giveth warning for the celelraUon of the holy Communion, (ivhichhe 
shall always do upon the Sunday, or some Holy-day, immediately preceding,) after the 
Sermon or Homily ended, he shall read this Exhortation folloiving. 

DEAELY beloved, on day next I purpose, through 
God's assistance, to administer to all such as shall be reli- 
giously and devoutly disposed the most comfortable Sacrament of the 
Body and Blood of Christ ; to be by them received in remembrance 
of his meritorious Cross and Passion ; whereby alone we obtain 
remission of our sins, and are made partakers of the Kingdom of 
heaven. Wherefore it is our duty to render most humble and hearty 
thanks to Almighty God our heavenly Father, for that he hath given 
his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to 
383 



THE COMMUNION. 



be oiir spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament. Which 
being so divine and comfortable a thing to them who receive it 
worthily, and so dangerous to them that wall presume to receive it 
unworthily ; my duty is to exhort 3'ou in the mean season to con- 
sider the dignity of that holy mystery, and the great peril of the 
unworthy receiving thereof ; and so to search and examine your own 
consciences, (and that not lightly, and after the manner of dis- 
semblers with God ; but so) that je may come holy and clean to 
such a heavenly Feast, in the marriage-garment required by God in 
holy Scripture, and be received as w^ortliy partakers of that holy 
Table. 

The way and means thereto is ; First, to examine your lives and 
conversations by the rule of God's commandments ; and wherein- 
soever ye shall perceive yourselves to have offended, either by w^ill, 
word, or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess 
yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life. 
And if ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only 
against God, but also against your neighbours ; then ye shall 
reconcile yom'selves unto them ; being ready to make restitution and 
satisfaction, according to the uttermost of your powders, for all 
injuries and w^'ongs done by you to any other ; and being likewise 
ready to forgive others that have offended you, as ye would have 
forgiveness of your offences at God's hand : for otherwise the 
receiving of the holy Communion doth nothing else but increase 
your damnation. Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, 
an hinderer or slanderer of his Word, an adulterer, or be in malice, 
or envy, or in any other g:^ievous crime, repent you of your sins, 
or else come not to that holy Table ; lest, after the taking of that 
holy Sacrament, the devil enter into you, as he entered into Judas, 
and fill you fall of all iniquities, and bring you to destruction both 
of body and soul. 

And because it is requisite, that no man should come to the holy 
Communion, but with a full trust in God's mercy, and with a quiet 
conscience ; therefore if there be any of you, who by this means 
cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further com- 
fort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and 
learned Minister of God's Word, and open his grief ; that by the 
ministry of God's holy Word he may receive the benefit of absolu- 
tion, together with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his 
conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness. 
384 



THE COMMUNION. 



T[ 0/-, in case he shall see the people jiegligent to come to the holy Comm union, instead of the ^ 
former, he shall use this Exhortation. 

DEAELY beloved brethren, on I intend, by God's 
grace, to celebrate the Lord's Supper : nnto which, in God's 
behalf, I bid you all that are here present ; and beseech you, for the 
Lord Jesus Christ's sake, that ye will not refuse to come thereto, 
being so lovingly called and bidden by God himself. Ye know how 
grievous and unkind a thing it is, when a man hath prepared a rich 
feast, decked his table with all kind of provision, so that there 
lacketh nothing but the guests to sit down ; and yet they who are 
called (without any cause) most un thankfully refuse to come. 
Which of you in such a case would not be moved ? Who would 
not think a great injury and wrong done unto him ? Wherefore 
most dearly beloved in Christ, take ye good heed, lest ye, with- 
drawing yourselves from this holy Supper, provoke God's indig- 
nation against you. It is an easy matter for a man to say, I will not 
communicate, because I am otherwise hindered with worldly business . 
But such excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God. 
If any man say, I am a grievous sinner, and therefore am afraid to 
come : wherefore then do ye not repent and amend ? When God 
calleth you, are ye not ashamed to say ye will not come ? When ye 
should return to God, will ye excuse yourselves, and say ye are' not 
ready ? Consider earnestly with yourselves how little such feigned 
excuses will avail before God. They that refused the feast in the 
Gospel, because they had bought a farm, or would tr}^ their yokes of 
oxen, or because they were married, were not so excused, but 
counted unworthy of the heavenly feast. I, for my part, shall be 
ready ; and, according to mine OfB.ce, I bid you in the Name of God, 
I call you in Christ's behalf, I exhort you, as ye love your own 
salvation, that ye will be partakers of this holy Communion. And 
as the Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his soul by death upon 
the Cross for your salvation ; so it is your duty to receive the 
Communion in remembrance of the sacrifice of his death, as he 
himself hath commanded : which if ye shall neglect to do, consider 
with yourselves how great injury ye do unto God, and how sore 
punishment hangeth over your heads for the same ; when ye wilfully 
abstain from the Lord's Table, and separate from your brethren, who 
come to feed on the banquet of that most heavenly food. These 
things if ye earnestly consider, ye will by God's grace return to 
a better mind : for the obtaining whereof we shall not cease to make 
our humble petitions unto Almighty God our heavenly Father. 
385 3 I) 



THE COMMUNION. 




% At the time of the celebration of the Commumon, the Communicants heing conveniently 
placed for the receiving of the holy Sacrament^ the Priest shall say this Exhortation. 

DEAELY beloved in the Lord, ye tliat mind to come to the 
holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour 
Christ, must consider how Saint Paul exhorteth all persons dili- 
gently to try and examine themselves, before they presume to eat of 
that Bread, and drink of that Cup. For as the benefit is great, if 
with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy 
Sacrament ; (for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and 
drink his blood ; then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us ; we are 
one with Christ, and Christ with us ;) so is the danger great, if we 
receive the same unworthily. Tor then we are guilty of the Body 
and Blood of Christ our Saviour; we eat and drink our own 
damnation, not considering the Lord's Body; we kindle God's 
wrath against us ; we provoke him to plague us with divers diseases. 



THE COMMUNION. 



and sundry kinds of death. Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, 
that ye be not judged of the Lord ; repent you truly for your sins 
past ; have a lively and stedfast faith in Christ our Saviour ; amend 
your lives and be in perfect charity with all men ; so shall ye be 
meet partakers of those holy mysteries. And above all things ye 
must give most humble and hearty thanks to God, the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Grhost, for the redemption of the world by the 
death and passion of our Saviour Christ, both God and man ; who 
did humble himself, even to the death upon the Cross, for us, 
miserable sinners, who lay in darkness and the shadow of death ; 
that he mihgt make us the children of God, and exalt us to ever- 
lasting life. And to the end that we should alway remember the 
exceeding great love of om- Master, and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
thus dying for us, and the innumerable benefits which by his precious 
blood-shedding he hath obtained to us ; he hath instituted and 
ordained holy mysteries, as pledges of his love, and for a continual 
remembrance of his death, to our great and endless comfort. To 
him therefore, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, let us give (as 
we are most bounden) continual thanks ; submitting ourselves 
wholly to his holy will and pleasure, and studying to serve him in 
true holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Amen. 

^ Tlien shall the Priest say to them that come to receive the holy Communion , 

'XT'F that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are 
^ in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead 
a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from 
henceforth in his holy ways ; Draw near with faith, and take this 
holy Sacrament to your comfort ; and make your humble confession 
to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your knees. 

1 The7i shall this general Confession he made, in the name of all tliose that are minded to 
receive the holy Communion, ly one of the Ministers-, loth he and all the ;peo]ple kneeling 
humbly ujpon their knees, and saying, 

\ LMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of 
all things. Judge of all men ; We acknowledge and bewail 
our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, 
most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, 
Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and 
indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily 
sorry for these our misdoings ; The remembrance of them is grievous 
unto us ; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us. 
Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father ; For thy Son our Lord 
387 



THE COMMUXIOX. 



Jesus Clirist's sake, Forgive us all that is past ; And grant tliat w 
may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of hfe, To the 
honour and glory of thy Xame : Through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

t ncn shall the Priest (or ih: Bis]Kq>, hru.y yr.suJ :) sf'u>'J u^-. an^ furrdro lirnsflf to the 
peoiA'^, pronounce fhiS Ahsolidion. 

ALMIGHTY GOD, our heavenly Father, who of his great 
mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that 
with heartA^^-epentance and true faith turn unto him ; Have mercy 
upon you \ pardon and dehver you from all your sins ; confirm and 
streno-then vou in all c^oodness ; and bring vou to everlasting life ; 
throuo^h Jesus Clnist our Lord. Amen. 

% nen shan fh^ PrU:if say, 

Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that 

truly turn to him. 

COME unto me aU that travail and are heavy laden, and I will 
refresh you. St. Matth. xi. 2S. 
So God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to 
the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but liave 
everlasting life. St. John iii. 16. 

Hear also what St. Paul saith. 
This is a true saymg, and worthy of all men to be received, That 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Tim. 1. 15. 
Hear also what St. John saith. 
If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus 
Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for oar sins. 
1 St. Johii ii. L 

^ Aft<^/r 'rJiicJi the Priest shoJl jrroceerl, saying, 

Lift up your hearts. 
Ansv:er. AVe lift them up unto the Lord. 
Priest. Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. 
Answer. It is meet and right so to do. 

t Then shall the Priest turn fo the Lord's Tr>M,, and so.y, 

IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at 
all times, and in all places, give thanks unto 
Fatherf;S5:r^:^Ki; thee, Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Ever- 

Trinity-Sunday. kstiug God. 

388 



THE COMMUNION. 



^ Here shall folloiu the Proper Preface, accorcling to the time, if there he any specially 
appointed : or else immediateJy shall folloiu, 

THEEEFOEE witli Angels and Archangels, and with all the 
company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name ; 
evermore praising thee^ and saying, Holy, holy^ tLoly? Lord Grod of 
hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory : Grlory be to thee, 
Lord most High. Amen. 

Proper Prefaces. 

Upon Christmas-day, and seven days after. 

BECAUSE thou didst give Jesus Christ thine only Son to he 
born as at this time for us ; who, by the operation of the 
Holy Ghost, was made very man of the substance of the Virgin 
Mary his mother ; and that without spot of sin, to make us clean 
from all sin. Therefore with Angels, ^'C. 

Upon Easter-day, and seven days after. 

BUT chiefly are we bound to praise thee for the glorious Eesur- 
rection of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord : for he is the very 
Paschal Lamb, which was offered for us, and hath taken away the 
sin of the world ; who by his death hath destroyed death, and by his 
rising to life again hath restored to us everlasting life. Therefore 
with Angels, ^x. 

Upon Ascension-day, and seven days after. 

npHEOUGrH thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord ; who after his most glorious Eesurrection manifestly ap- 
peared to all his Apostles, and in their sight ascended up into heaven 
to prepare a place for us ; that where he is, thither we might also 
ascend, and reign with him in glory. Therefore with Angels, (^'c. 

Upon Whit-Sunday, and six days after. 

rr^HEOUG-H Jesus Christ our Lord ; according to whose most 
true promise, the Holy Ghost came down as at this time from 
heaven with a sudden great sound, as it had been a mighty wind, in 
the likeness of fiery tongues, lighting upon the Apostles, to teach 
them, and to lead them to all truth ; giving them both the gift of 
divers languages, and also boldness with fervent zeal constantly to 
preach the Gospel unto all nations ; whereby we have been brought 
out of darkness and error into the clear light and true knowledge of 
thee, and of thy Son Jesus Christ. Therefore with Angels, (S^x. 
389 



THE COMMUNION. 



Upo7i the Feast of Trinity only. 

XTT^HO art one God, one Lord ; not one only person, but tliree 
' T persons in one Substance. For tliat which we beheve of 
the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, without any difference or inequality. Therefore with 
Angels, 

•[[ After each of wMcli Prefaces shall immediately he sung or said, 

THEEEFOEE with Angels and Archangels, and with all the 
company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name ; 
evermore praising thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of 
hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory : Glory be to thee, O 
Lord most High. Amen. 

1 Then shall the Priest, Jcneeling down at the Lord's Tahle, say in the name of all them that 
shall receive the Communion this Prayer following. 

WE do not presume to come to this thy Table, merciful 
Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy mani- 
fold and great mercies. We are not wortb}^ so much as to gather 
up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, 
whose property is always to have mercy : Grant us therefore, gra- 
cious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to 
drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his 
body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and 
that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. 

1 When the Priest, standing before the Tahle, hath so ordered the Bread and Wine, that he 
may with the more readiness and decency hreak the Bread hefore the 'peojfle, and take the 
Cup into his hands, he shall say the Prayer of Consecration, as foUoweth. 

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender 
mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death 
upon the cross for our redemption ; who made there (by his one 
oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacri- 
fice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world ; and 
did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue, a 
perpetual memory of that his precious death, until his coming again ; 
Hear us, merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee ; and 
grant that we receiving these thy creatures of bread and wine, 
according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in 
remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most 
390 



THE COMMUNION. 



blessed Body and Blood ; wlio,in the same night that he was betrayed, 
*took Bread ; and, when he had given thanks, 
fhe brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying 
Take, eat, J this is niy body which is given for 
you : Do this in remembrance of me. Like- 
wise after supper he §took the Cup ; and, when 
he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying. 
Drink ye all of this ; for this || is my Blood of 
the New Testament, which is shed for you and 
for many for the remission of sins : Do this, as 
oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. Amen. 

t TJien shall the Minister first receive the Communion in loth Jcinds himself, a7id tlien proceed 
to deliver the same to the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, in liJce manner, {if any he present,) 
and after that to the people also in order, into their hands, all meeJcly kneeling. Aiid, 
ivhen he delivereth the Bread to any one, he shall say, 

THE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, 
preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and 
eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him 
in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving. 

^ And the Minister that delivereth the Cupto any one shall say, 

THE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, 
preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Drink this 
in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee, and be 
thankful. 

If If the consecrated Bread or Wine he all spent hefore all have communicated, the Priest is to 
consecrate more according to the Form hefore prescribed ; heginning at [Our Saviour Clirist 
in tlie same niglit, &c.] for the Messing of the Bread ; and at [Likewise after Supper, (fee] 
for the blessing of the Cup. 

^ IVJien all have communicated, the Minister shall return to the Lord's Table, and reverently 
place u'pon it what remaineth of the consecrated Elements, covering the same luith a fair 
linen cloth. 

1 Tlien shall the Priest say the Lord's Prayer, the people repeating after him every Petition. 

TIE Eather, which art in heaven, 
Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And for- 
give us our trespasses, As we forgive 
them that trespass against us. And 
lead us not into temptation ; But de- 
liver us from evil : Eor thine is the 
kingdom, The power and the glory. 
For ever and ever. Amen. 

391 



* Here the Priest is to 
take the Paten into Ins 
hands : 

t And here to break the 
Bread : 

X And here to lay his 
hand tqmi all the Bread. 

§ Here he is to talce the 
Cup into his hand: 

II And here to lay his 
hand upon every vessel (he 
it Chalice o)' Flagon) in 
lohich there is any Wine 
to he consecrated. 




THE COMMUNION. 



f After shall he said as followdh. 

OLOED and heavenly Father, we thy humble servants entirely 
desire thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our 
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving ; most humbly beseeching thee 
to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and 
through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain 
remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion. And 
here we ofier and present unto thee, Lord, ourselves, our souls 
and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee ; 
humbly beseeching thee, that all we, who are partakers of this holy 
Communion, may be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly bene- 
diction. And although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, 
to ofier unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee to accept this our 
bounden duty and service ; not weighing our merits, but pardoning 
our ofiences, through Jesus Christ our Lord ; by whom, and with 
whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto 
thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen. 

Or this. 

ALMIGrHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee, 
for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us, who have duly received 
these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious 
Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ ; and dost 
assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us ; and that 
we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, 
which is the blessed company of all faithful people ; and are also 
heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the 
most precious death and passion of thy dear Son. And we most 
humbly beseech thee, heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy 
grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such 
good w^orks as thou hast prepared for us to walk in ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all 
honour and glory, world without end. Amen, 

^ TJien shall he said or sung, 

GLOEY be to God on high, and in earth peace, good will 
towards men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship 
thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, 
Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. 

Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesu Christ; O Lord God, 
Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of 
392 



THE COMMUNION. 



the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takes t away the sins 
of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takes t away the 
sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right 
hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. 

For thou only art holy ; thou only art the Lord ; tliou only, 
Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God 
the Father. Amen. 

^ TJien the Priest (or BisJioj) if he he present) shall let them deixirt ivitli this Blessing. 

rpHE peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your 
-■- hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of 
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord : and the blessing of God Almighty, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and 
remain with you always. Amen. 

•[[ Collects to he said after the Offertory, tohen there is no Communion, every such day on& 
or more; and the same may he said also, as often as occasion shall serve, after the Collects, 
either of Morning or Evening Frayer, Communion, or Litany, hy the discretion of the 
Minister. 

ASSIST us mercifully, Lord, in these our supplications and 
prayers, and dispose the way of thy servants towards the 
attainment of everlasting salvation ; that, among all the changes and 
chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by thy most 
gracious and ready help ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

f\ ALMIGHTY Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we be- 
seech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and 
bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy command- 
ments ; that through thy most mighty protection, both here and 
ever, we may be preserved in body and soul ; through our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

/^EANT, we beseech thee. Almighty God, that the words, which 
we have heard this day with our outward ears, may through 
thy grace be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring 
forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honour and praise of thy 
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

"pEEYENT us, Lord, in all our doings with thy most 
J- gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help ; that 
in aU our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorif)' 
thy holy Name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life ; 
through Jesus Christ om^ Lord. Amen. 

393 3 E 



THE COMMUNION. 




LMIGrHTY God, tlie fountain of all wisdom, who knowest 
our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking" ; 



We beseech thee to have compassion upon our infirmities ; and those 
things, which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blind- 
ness we cannot ask, vouchsafe to give us, for the worthiness of thy 
Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

A LMIGHTY God, who hast promised to hear the petitions of 
them that ask in thy Son's Name ; We beseech thee merci- 
fully to incline thine ears to us that have made now our prayers and 
supplications unto thee ; and grant, that those things, which we have 
faithfully asked according to thy will, may eflPectually be obtained, 
to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

^ Upon the Sundmjs and other Holy-days (if there he no Communion) shall he said Ull that 
is appoi^ited at the Communion, until the end of the general Prayer [For the whole state 
of Christ's Church miUtant here in earth] together ivith one or more of these Collects last 
hefore rehearsed^ concluding with the Blessing. 

f And there shall he no celehration of the Lord's Supper, except there he a convenient numher 
to communicate with the Priest, according to his discretion. ' 

^ And if there he not ahove twenty persons in the Parish of discretion to receive the Com- 
munion ; yet there shall he no Cominunion, except four (or three at the least) communicate 
tvith the Priest. 

^ And in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, and Colleges, tuhere there are many Priests 
and Beacons, they shall all receive the Commmiion with the Priest every Sunday at the 
least, except they have a reasonahle cause to the contrary. 

^ And to take away all occasion of dissension, and superstition, ivhich any person hath or 
might have concerning the Bread and Wine, it shall suffice that the Bread he such as is 
usual to he eaten ; hut the hest and purest Wheat Bread that conveniently may he gotten. 

^ And if any of the Bread and Wine remain unconsecrated, the Curate shall have it to his 
own use : hut if any remain of that which vjas consecrated, it shall not he carried out of the 
Church, hut the- Priest and such other of the Communicayits as he shall then call unto him 
shall, immediately after the Blessing, reverently eat and drinh the same. ' 

1 The Bread and Wine for the Communion shall he provided hy the Curate and the Church- 
wardens at the charges of the Parish. 

^ And note, that every Parishioner shall communicate at the least three times in the year, of 
which Easier to he one. And yearly at Easter every Parishioner shall recTton with the 
Parson, Vicar, or Curate, or his or their Deputy or Deputies ; and pay to them or him all 
Ecclesiastical Duties, accustomahly due, then a7id at that time to he paid. 

f After the Divine Service ended, the money given at the Offertory shall he disposed of to such 
pious and charitaUe uses, as the Minister and Churchwardens shall think fit. Wherein if 
tJiey disagree, it sludl he disposed of as the Ordinary slmll appoint. 

394 



THE COMMUNION. 



" "TTTHEREAS it is ordained in this Office for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, 
" YV that the Communicants should receive the same kneeling; (which order is well 
" meant, for a signification of om' humble and grateful acknowledgement of the benefits 
" of Christ therein given to all worthy Eeceivers, and for the avoiding of such profanation 
" and disorder in the holy Communion, as might otherwise ensue ;) yet, lest the same 
" kneeling should by any persons, either out of ignorance and infirmity, or out of malice 
" and obstinacy, be misconstrued and depraved ; It is hereby declared, That thereby no 
" adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto the Sacramental Bread or Wine 
" there bodily received, or unto any Corporal Presence of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood. 
" For the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural substances, and 
" therefore may not be adored ; (for that were Idolatry, to be abhorred of all faithful Chris- 
" tians ;) and the natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not 
" here ; it being against the truth of Chi-ist's natural body to be at one tune in more places 
" than one." 



NOTES 

ON THE OEDER OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 

LOKD'S SUPPEE, oe HOLY COMMUNION. 



Bubrics. 

The Lord's Supper was instituted under the most affecting circumstances, and appeals to every 
feehng which ought to animate the believer's heart. But it is not a memorial only ; it is a Sacra- 
ment, and as such seals the promises of grace ; and, when rightly received, exhibits them as ful- 
filled. It is a melancholy instance of the inconsistency of the world, that so many of those who 
hoped to be saved by the Cross of Christ should reject His body and blood. But we may trace 
this separation, of the different parts of Christianity— the dismembering of the system — to the 
gradual decrease of inquiry into the essentials of the profession. The acknowledgment of the 
Gospel became a safe and easy matter for the world after the fourth century ; but entering into 
communion with Christ remained as hard or impossible as ever to a worldly spirit. A compromise, 
therefore, began to be made. Men adopted the Creed without the faith, and bowed to the image 
while they avoided the Divine reality ; and this because the image had no voice for the con- 
science, while the reality was not a form, but a living and sanctifying Word. But ages passed 
away before the professors of Christianity became blind to the importance or necessity of the 
Communion. The least spiritual of mankind dare not look for peace without the Sacraments, and 
thus the Church in elder times could scarcely inflict a heavier penalty than formally prohibiting 
their approach to the Lord's table. To recover the privilege of joining the congregation in this 
act of comforting and sublime worship the severest penance was willingly endm^ed, and a humility 
evinced which, whether really spiritual or not, proved the deep sense that was entertained of the 
value of the sacred feast. It is greatly to be lamented that Christians should ever have been led 
to separate things so essentially united as a profession of faith in the atonement, and the com- 
munion of the body and blood of Christ. But melancholy as is the prospect thus presented, it is 
less afflicting than that in which the table of the Lord is seen surrounded by mere formalists, or by 
those whose sins are known to be unrepented of and unconfessed. Our Church, taking into con- 
sideration the state of the world in both these respects, has wisely provided for the due warning of 
the negligent, the encouragement of the humble, and the instruction of the ignorant ; but it has 
also given power to its ministers to repress the presumption of impenitent sinners, and to refuse 
to all such as are wanting in faith or holiness the seal of Communion with Christ. 

The first of the above Rubrics was inserted to enable the minister to consider the character and 
preparation of those who offer themselves, and also that he might know how to provide a proper 
quantity of bread and wine for the occasion. The next is founded on the direct command of our 
Lord (Matth. v. 23, 24), and cannot be violated without a resistance to the spirit of love and holiness, 
approaching to sin of the most deadly character. But while due authority is thus given to the 
minister, the people are with equal care protected against any capriciousness or improper severity 
of judgment. • The character of the Church may be rightly considered through the medium of 
directions like this. In the first book of the Reformed Church, the third Rubric simply stated 
that " The priest, standing humbly before the middle of the altar, shall say the Lord's Prayer." 

395 3 E 2 



NOTES ON THE COMMUNION. 



The word altar having excited the suspicions of the more zealous Protestants, who were cautioned 
as to this point by Bishop Hooper, it was changed, by a wise, gentle, and charitable spirit, into 
that of tahle, which certainly better expresses the real intention of the board spread for a feast where 
Chi-ist is present. The officiating priest is directed to take the north side of the table because it is 
the right hand, and the white cloth for the covering of the table is a becoming decency to which no 
reasonable objection could be made, were it even not supported by the general custom of antiquity. 

Then sliall tlie Priest, turning to the peojple," &c. 
An address to the Almighty Father in the words of the Saviour Himself, follow^ed by a prayer 
for perfect holiness of heart and spirit, and the delivery of the divine law, form an introduction to 
the service of the Communion, as full and edifying as could by any means be devised by human 
wisdom. For some time after the establishment of the Eeformation, the Morning Prayers, the 
Litany, and Communion, were separate services. While the Litany was being read, preparations 
Avere made for the Communion, and a short time intervening between the several services, the 
people came to each with fresh and ready attention. Custom, for there is no other authority 
for om- depai-ture fi-om the original practice, at length led to the blending of all in one. But amid 
all the disadvantages resulting from this change of plan, this good has followed, one part of tlie 
Communion service is every Sabbath and Holy-day read to the whole congregation, and the 
people are thereby reminded of their duty, and warned, though indirectly, yet in the most solemn 
manner, to prepare for participating in the heavenly mysteries. St. Jerome says that the Lord's 
Prayer was taught the Apostles especially for use in tlie Communion. The prayer for sanctifica- 
tion is equally needed for those who would keep God's commandments, and those who desire to 
feed on the bread of life ; and the delivery of the law, which is peculiar to the Communion service 
of our Chm-cl], is highly acceptable to people who desire not only to be roused to the better per- 
formance of then- duty, but to be reminded of their sins and imperfections, a deep sense of which 
so strongly urges the soul to seek for mercy through the righteousness of Christ. The priest is 
directed to tm-n towards the peoj^le, and deliver the law standing, in token of the authority by 
wliich he speaks ; wliile the congi-egation by kneeling expresses the awe and humility proper for 
those who acknowledge the invisible presence of the gTeat Lawgiver Himself. 

Prayer for tlie Queen. 

While it was the constant custom of the Ancient Churches, as aheady mentioned, to pray for 
the sovereign in their general pubHc services, so also were particular petitions otfered up for. 
princes in the service of the Communion. These were sometimes introduced into the prayer be- 
fore the oblation, and at others in those which followed. 

" ^ Then shall he said the Collect,'" &c. 

By repeating the Collect of the day, and the reading of the corresponding Epistle and Gospel, 
the congregation is reminded of whatever is interesting and affecting in the season of the year- 
Their devotions are thus rendered more intense and direct, their faith gathering fi'esli strength 
from the word of God, and the open display of His power and goodness. The year is said by old 
authors to be divided into two parts, the former being employed in tlie consideration of our Lord's 
life. His sufferings, and triumphs ; the latter in the application of His lessons and examples to 
our own edification. The EjDistle is read first as the word, though inspired, spoken by man, and 
therefore, as proper to introduce the Lord speaking in His own person. Anciently, the peojDle 
always stood when any part of Scripture was read ; but this practice being found oppressive, it has 
since been confined to the reading of the Gosi^el in the Communion Service. The introduction 
of an EjDistle and Gospel before the administration of the Eucharist is of very ancient use, and 
that both in the Greek and Latin Churches. The " Glory " also before the Gospel is of similar 
antiquity, and was mentioned particularly in the first book of King Edward. 

Note to the Nicene Creed. 
A confession of faith may rightly be required of all persons who wish to become partakers in the 
most solemn of Divine mysteiies. It has been in every age demanded of those who desire to be 
admitted to baptism, when capable of making such a confession ; and the same reasons may to a 
great extent be urged for a similar practice in the administration of this Sacrament, which, received 
without faith, can only lead to the condemnation of the unbelieving and presumptuous intruder. 
The Nicene Creed was drawn by the General Council held at Nice, a city of Bitliynia, in the 
year 325, as far as the words "Holy Ghost." Soon after this a heresy began to be prevalent 
respecting the personality of tlie Holy Spirit, and the Council of Constantinople, held in 381, 

396 



NOTES ON THE COMMUNION. 



addeti wliat follows, with the exception of the words describing the procession of the Spirit from 
the Son as well as the Father, which were introduced in 447 by the bishops of Spam. This last 
addition was not acknowledged in the Latin Church till the tenth century, and has never been 
admitted by the Greek Chm-ch. 

" «| While these Sentences are in reading," &c. 
The celebration of an ordinance which is to unite us with the Saviour of the world ought 
sm-ely to be attended not only with holy thoughts and purposes, but with whatever exercises of 
holiness are possible in the house of God. Happily for us. Charity may there perform many parts 
of her work ; and om- alms, as well as our prayers, may ascend as a memorial before God. From 
the earliest ages His people have been accustomed to present offerings on His altar-first m 
acknowledgment of His sovereignty, and, secondly, as testifying their love and gratitude The 
one sufficient oblation and satisfaction has been made for us by Christ. Every attempt to con- 
ciliate or appease eternal justice by any other offering is now worse than vain ; it is an abomination 
in the sioht of God. But we are " created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and whatever we do 
towards His people He wiU be pleased to receive as homage paid to Himself. These sentences, 
therefore, exhorting us, in the words of the Holy Spirit, to deeds of charity, are admnab y calcu- 
lated to awaken the mind to a just sense of duty when preparing for the Communion. If, with- 
out charity," we are "nothing worth " at any time, how little prepared can we be without it to 
unite ourselves to Him who so proved His charity to mankind, that while they were yet sinners 
He shed His blood for their redemption ! An anthem formerly occupied the time now employed 
in reading these sentences. Few serious-minded Christians can fail of seeing that we gam much, 

by the change. , , 1 1 > -i • -j. 

In the Kubric which immediately follows, the priest is directed to place on the table at t iis part 
of the service the bread and wine, to which may then properly be applied, it is supposed, the term 
Oblation as used in the accompanying prayer. A more particular direction was given on this 
point in the first edition of the Liturgy, and a small side-table was placed by the altar on which 
the bread and wine stood till the priest took them, and with his own hands presented them as an 
oblation This practice was done away with as superstitious, as well as the mmglmg of the wme 
with water, mentioned in the original Eubric. But so much of it was afterwards restored as 
enjoins the priest himself to place the bread and wine on the table, and not to leave it to be 

done by the attendants. . ^7 7 ht-t. * 

Note to Prayer for the Church MiMant. 

As the foro-iveness of our enemies, and a loving readiness to assist those around us, form an 
essential part of our preparation for the Communion, so in this noble prayer we exercise our love, 
in Jesus Christ, towards all mankind, and more especially in supplicating the Divme blessing on 
that vast body of our fellow-beings who are seeking pardon and salvation at the same mercy-seat. 
We pray for the universal reign of truth, unity, and concord ; thus putting aside our own pride 
and iealousies, and striving for the influence of the same grace in others. Having m_ this man- 
ner manifested the charity which ought, if not perfected before, to be rapidly gaimng its full 
growth and stature as the service proceeds, the duty which we owe to our own Church and 
country and to those with whom we are now bound in the nearest bonds of brotherhood, engages 
our thoughts, and we put up hearty prayers for a blessing on the sovereign, on the mimsters of 
the law and of religion, and on our fellow-worshippers. The next division of the prayer, which 
formerly alluded more particularly to the dead, brings our hearts into communion with the saints 
which are above ; and, while we rejoice in their joy, we learn to pray with more earnestness than 
ever that our souls may be illuminated with the light whereby they walked, and at last obtain 
an abundant entrance into the kingdom of Heaven. 

" ^ When the Minister,'' &g. 

This affectionate address of the minister to the congregation ought to be received with earnest 
and thoughtful attention. It is an invitation to a feast, to be present at which is essentially the 
highest honour to which man, in his present state, can aspire. This feast, moreover, has been 
made at an expense, awfully, and most incomparably, greater than that which it can cost to spread 
any other table. The tree of life in heaven furnishes the repast of Angels, and they rejoice ever- 
lastingly in the fulness of Divine beneficence. Neither toil nor suffering ministers to their enjoy- 
ment r but love, in the almighty energy of its power, supplies them with perpetual delights. That 
which is the soui'ce of being is felt and known also to be the source of joy and happiness. Our 
earthly feasts cost labour, and the life of many things ; and somewhat of melancholy thought would 
attend most festivals, were the mind to dwell long upon the means whereby they have been pro- 
397 



NOTES ON THE COMMUNION. 



diiced. But how has this divine feast, to which we are invited in the house of God, been prepared ? 
Who here has paid the cost, — who performed the labour, — who suffered to supply the nourishment ? 
The bread and wine could not be placed before us till the Son of God humbled Himself to the 
form of a servant, and the death of the Cross. It is as His own body and blood that they become 
available to the satisfying of every desire of our nature, and endowing us with immortality. " Man 
did eat angels" food," it was said by those who lived under the Law. Under the Gospel he eats a 
yet nobler food, and becomes one with the Kuler of angels. It would be strange for us, under 
any circumstances, to reject an invitation to such a feast as this— to a table provided with such 
food. But how inconceivable is it that we should disregard it when there is no other means of life, 
and when our sinful and corrupt state ought rather to lead us to expect an everlasting banishment 
from God than a call to the guest-chamber of His Son ! The former only of the exhortations was 
publislied in the Liturgy of 1549 ; but the addition made is of great value, and communicants 
would do well if they very seriously considered both these addresses in their private exercises of 
devotion. Let it be always remembered, that frequent communion is the duty of every servant of 
God. In early times it was as usual to receive the Eucharist weekly as to keep a weekly Sabbath. 
For some time it was administered twice and thrice a week, and, in some places, every day. When 
the disinclination to communicate became more and more visible, a law was passed obliging 
persons to attend thi'ee times a year, those who neglected to come being threatened with excom- 
munication. But a law is at best a weak support for piety ; and in the Council of Lateran, held at 
the close of the twelfth century, once a year was admitted to be sufficient to avoid the threatened 
penalty. The great body of professing Christians considered that it was enough to obey the law, 
• and thus the most important of sacred ordinances, the most comforting and salutary, fell into 
general neglect. A vast change followed the Keformation. The people were roused to a clearer 
understanding of the nature of their duty in this respect ; and, though it is still the case that but a 
small proportion of those who call themselves believers act consistentl}^ with their duty in respect 
to the Communion, the warnings and invitations of the Church are, it may be hoped, daily working 
a healthful and blessed improvement. The second exhortation was added in 1552, and was at 
first read just before the celebration of the Communion, it being then the custom for persons not 
receiving it to remain in the church. 

" % At the time of the celehration,'' &c. 
This address, which was formerly read in conjunction with the preceding exhortation, is not less 
necessary than either of the others ; for it would be far better for an unprepared person to refrain 
from receiving the Sacrament, though he had come for the purpose of doing so, than to venture on 
partaking of such a mystery in an unsanctified state of mind. Many persons are deterred by the 
ex]3ression which warns us lest " we eat and drink our own damnation ;" and great pains are taken 
to lower the awful force of these words . But we apprehend that no really humble, spiritual penitent, 
deeply affected with a sense of his own unworthiness, and of the perfections of Christ, is likely to 
be kept from the table by this warning. And as for those who have not repented of their sins, or 
who are destitute of the graces of a renewed mind, we know not what will be the weight of their 
punishment, if they tread the blood of the Covenant under foot, count it as an unholy thing, and 
put Christ to open shame, by coming with light and corrupt hearts to this most holy mystery. 

\ Then shall the Priest say.'' 
This short address of invitation is intended to strengthen the resolution and confirm the hopes 
of those who, humble and penitent, and trusting to no merit of their own, but only to the righ- 
teousness of Chi'ist, stand meekly listening for this call to His heavenly feast. The requisites of 
preparation are briefly but fully stated : — repentance, charity, the pur]30se of a new life and faith. 
He who has these may gladly accept the call, though as yet he be but a babe either in strength 
or knowledge. 

Note to the Confession, Ahsolution, and Sentences. 
Confession has always formed a part of the worship of Christians. Various circumstances will 
naturally lead to different modes of exercising this duty. The glory of God and the consolation of 
the sinner are both concerned in its performance. Sometimes peace is found in a very particular 
disburdening of the heart, and in the private acknowledgment of offences. At others, the con- 
science is satisfied with the feeling of sorrow which accompanies the general confession of sin, 
and regards the sincere affliction of the soul, reviewing and weeping over the past, as giving a 
particularity to the confession better than language that can be heard. But an open general con- 
fession in the Church is a necessary part of Christian duty, and is neither supplied nor rendered 
valueless by confession of any other kind. And while this is the case in all our services, so must 

398 



NOTES ON THE COMMUNION. 



it be especially requisite in that of tlie Communion, — by which we hope to cast away both our sins 
and our sinfulness, and to clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Chiist. To a, sincere acknow- 
ledo-ment of guilt, accompanied by a lively faith, forgiveness is distinctly promised in the Covenant 
of the Gospel. The sentence of remission is intrusted to Christ's ministers. It is their happy 
privilege to pronounce it in favour of all who have faithfully confessed their sins, and are now 
seekino- a nearer intercourse with Christ. And the absolution thus pronounced is followed by the 
most comfortable and encouraging assurances, given by the Saviour Himself and His Apostles, 
that, poor and miserable as we are, we shall be acceptable at His table. Well, therefore, may we 
answer the priest's exhortation, " Lift up your hearts," and pour them out in thankfulness and love. 

" % Then shall the Priest turn to the Lord's Table, and say.'' 
In the earlier Liturgies a much larger space was allowed for thanksgiving in the Communion 
than in our present office. The word Eucharist, by which the whole service is frequently called, 
signifies a thanksgiving, thankfulness being the proper sentiment of every penitent who looks for 
pardon thi'ough the merits of Christ. It is probable that*the compilers of our Liturgy, regarding 
the feehng of devout gratitude as implied in the act of commtinion, did not think it necessary to 
insert distinct prayers of thanksgiving. The doxology, however, used in ancient times, and which 
was called the great doxology, or the Trisagium, is retained, and brings the whole family of heaven 
to join in the celebration of Divine mercy. In the proper prefaces, we are led, as in other parts 
of the service, to particularize our recollection of God's goodness, and so deepen the impressions 
which it ought to make upon our hearts. 

" % Then shall the Priest, kneeling ^ 
Prepared by these acts of a humble and spiritual devotion, the minister and the congregation 
now come, as it were, into the very presence of Christ, and expect, with thankful hearts, their share 
in the great and solemn feast. But the nearer they approach the mystery, the more deeply do 
they feel impressed with the feeling of their unworthiness to partake in the rite. They know that 
they have no claim even to the crumbs which fall from the table of the Lord. All they can do, 
therefore, is to trust solely to the mercy which has brought them to the banquet, and to pray that 
they may indeed be partakers of the precious food thus spread before them. 

When the Priest, standing hefore,'" &c. 
The whole of this truly evangelical service is emulative of primitive simplicity. In the doc- 
trines connected with the Communion, the growing spirit of corruption fo^ind, from an early 
period, the readiest field for its exercise. The minds of people were open to strong appeals on the 
subject. Their hearts, whether warmed by true piety or inflamed by superstition, could easily be 
persuaded to adopt any means which, it was said, would increase the glory or the efficacy of the 
Sacrament. Thus imperceptibly the primitive rite became overburdened with human additions, 
and the holy influences and Divine consolations to be sought from communion with Christ were 
vainly expected from the use of multiplied signs and emblems. Wisely throwing ofl: the load of 
these traditionary usages, our reformers have left to the Church all that is assuredly Apostolic, and 
all that can be required by those who are in a fit state to partake of the ordinance to render it 
truly and permanently impressive. Whatever may be said in favour of ceremonies in other parts 
of religious worship, in this most solemn of all its divisions their use can hardly be supported on 
like grounds. A desire to come to the communion of Chiisfs body and blood implies great 
advancement in seriousness ; spirituality is the first requisite in a communicant, and this must be 
at a low ebb indeed, if, m the solemn moments spent at the table, attention requires to be kept 
awake by the use of signs or ceremonies. The present form of Consecration is that given us by 
Christ Himself ; and that which it is evident, from St. Paul's account, the Apostles desired the 
Churches which they founded simply and religiously to adopt. Let the Divine mystery be still 
conveyed to our spirits in the living words of the Saviom-. Let us believe that the bread and the 
wine consecrated by Him, and received by faith, do verily become to us His body and His blood. 
Nothing can add to the efficacy of Christ's words, and nothing can give faith but the vivifying 
grace of the Holy Ghost. 

Then shall the Minister first receive,'" &c. 
The mode of delivering the bread and wine here directed was that which prevailed in the pri- 
mitive Church, and only ceased when religion began to be changed into superstition, and piety 
to manifest itself rather in signs of mysterious dread than in the happy feelings of genuine devotion 
and love. When the doctrine of transubstantiation became established, many new observances 
were introduced as necessarv to the reverential celebration of the ordinance. It was then thought 

399 



NOTES ON THE COMMUNION. 



improper tliat the people sliould toucli the bread with their hands ; it ^yas, therefore, put into 
their mouths by the priest, and this custom was retained for some time after the reformation of 
the EugHsh Churcli. At other times it was received in small plates provided for the purpose. The 
wine was regarded with similar awe; and this led to the people's being denied the cup altogether. 
In administering tlie bread and wine, the minister anciently said nothing more than " The body 
of Christ "and " Tlie blood of Christ," the people answering "Amen." The words "Preserve 
thy body and soul unto everlasting life " were added by Gregory the Great. TMs form was 
retained in the first book of King Edward ; but it was modified in the second, as favouring the 
doctrine of transubstantiation. By this change, however, there appeared to be a departure from_ 
all primitive example, and the form at present used was adopted to the satisfaction of all parties. 

Note to the Post-Communion. 
It was customary in the ancient Church for the deacons immediately after the Communion to 
exhort the people to return thanks for the benefits of which they had partaken. He then desired 
them to rise and commend themselves f o God by Jesus Christ ; upon which the bishop offered up 
the prayer of thanksgiving, and solemnly pronounced the blessing. A short prayer was then 
offered up by the deacon, and the people were dismissed with the words, " Peace be with you !" 
Our own Post-Communion answers sufficiently to this ancient example. It consists of those sup- 
plications for grace, and those earnest praises, which every worthy communicant will be most 
ready to pom- forth from the abundance of his heart. The Gloria in ezcelsis, or, " Glory be to God 
on high " has been used in the Christian Chm-ch from the earliest ages ; and is considered as an- 
swering to the hymn of praise which was sung by our Lord and His Apostles at the Paschal 
Feast. 

The Eubrics here added are well adapted to secure the order and decency so necessary to the 
proper administration of this blessed ordinance. Due attention has been paid throughout to 
the feelings of those who may fear either the intrusion of superstition on the one hand, or the 
appearance of neglect on the other. The protestation respecting kneeling results from the same 
cautious spirit, and affords another interesting illustration of the tenderness and moderation of 
our Apostolic Clnu'ch. 




400 



THE MINISTRATION OF 



PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS, 

TO BE USED IN THE CIIUECH. 




The people are to he admonished, that it is most convenient that Baptism should not he adminis- 
tered hut upon Sundays, and other Holy -days, when the most number of people come together ; as 
well for that the Congregation there present may testify the receiving of them that be neivly 
baptized into the number of Christ's Church ; as also because in the Baptism of Injaiits every 
^an present may he put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his Baptism. 
For lohich cause also it is expedient that Baptism he ministered in the vulgar tongue. Neverthe- 
less, (if necessity so require,) Children may be baptized upon any other day. 

A nd note, that there shall be for every Male-child to he baptized two Godfathers and one God- 
mother ; and for every Female, one Godfather and two Godmothers. 

When there are Children to be baptized, the Parents shall give Imowledge thereof over wgU or in 
the morning before the beginning of Morning Prayer, to the Curate. And then the Godfathers 
and Godmothers, and the people with the Children, must he ready at the Font, either tmmedudely 
after the last Lesson at Morning Prayer, or else immediately after the last Lesson at Lvemng 
Prayer, as the Curate by his discretion shall appoint. And the Priest coming to the Font, {lohicli 
is then to he filled ivith pmre Water,) and standing there, shall say, 

403 



PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



Hath tins Clnld been already baptized, or no ? 

^ If tlieij answer, No : Then shall the Priest proceed as followeth. 

DEABLY beloved, forasmiicli as all men are conceived and born in sin ; 
and tbat our Saviour Christ saitb, None can enter into the kingdom 
of God, except be be regenerate and born anevv^ of Water and of the Holy 
Ghost : I beseech you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that of his bounteous mercy he will grant to this Child that thing 
which by nature he cannot have ; that he may be baptized with Water and the 
Holy Ghost, and received into Christ's holy Chm-ch, and be made a lively 
'member of the same„ 

% Then shall the Priest say. 

Let us pray. 

ALMKtHTY and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst save 
Noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water ; and also 
didst safely lead the children of Israel thy people through the Bed Sea, 
figuring thereby thy holy Baptism ; and by the Baptism of thy well-beloved 
Son Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan, didst sanctify Water to the mystical 
washmg away of sin ; We beseech thee, for thine mfinite mercies, that thou 
wilt mercifully look upon this Child ; wash him and sanctify him with the 
Holy Ghost ; that he, being delivered from thy wrath, may be received into 
the ark of Christ's Church ; and being stedfast in faith, joyful through hope, 
and rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, that 
finally he may come to the land of everlasting life, there to reign with thee 
world without end ; through Jesus Christ om^ Lord. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY and immortal God, the aid of all that need, the helper 
of all that flee to thee for succour, the life of them that believe, and 
the resurrection of the dead ; We call upon thee for this Infant, that he, 
coming to thy holy Baptism, may receive remission of his sins by spiritual 
regeneration. Beceive him, Lord, as thou hast promised by thy well- 
beloved Son, saying, Ask, and ye shall have ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, 
and it shall be opened unto you : So give now unto us that ask ; let us that 
seek find ; open the gate unto us that knock ; that this Infant may enjoy the 
everlasting benediction of thy heavenly washhig, and may come to the eternal 
kingdom which thou hast promised by Christ our Lord. Amen. 

•|[ Tlien shall the people stand up, and the Priest shall say. 

Hear the words of the Gospel, written by Saint 3Iark, in the tenth Chapter, 

at the thirteenth Yerse. 

THEY brought young children to Christ, that he should touch them ; 
and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus 
saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children 
to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God. 
Yerily I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a 
little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, 
put his hands upon them, and blessed them. 

404 - 



PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



% After the Gospel is read, the Minister shall make this brief Exhortation up>on the ivords of the 

Gospel. 

BELOYED, ye hear in tliis Gospel the words of our Saviour Christ, 
that he commanded the children to be brought unto him; how he 
blamed those that would have kept them from him ; how he exliorteth all 
men to follow their innocency. Ye perceive how by his outward gesture 
and deed he declared his good will tov^ard them ; for he embraced them in 
his arms, he laid his hands upon them, and blessed them. Doubt ye not 
therefore, but earnestly believe, that he will likewise favourably receive this 
present Infant ; that he will embrace Mm with the arms of his mercy ; that 
he will give unto him the blessing of eternal life, and make him imrtaker of 
his everlasting kingdom. Wherefore we being thus persuaded of the good 
will of our heavenly Father towards this hifant, declared by his Son J esus 
Christ ; and nothing doubting but that he favourably alloweth this charitable 
work of ours in bringing this Infant to his holy Baptism ; let us faithfully 
and devoutly give thanks unto him, and say, 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, heavenly Father, we give thee 
humble thanks, for that thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the know- 
ledge of thy grace, and faith in thee : Increase this knowledge, and confirm 
this faith in us evermore. Give thy holy Spirit to this Infant, that he may 
be born again, and be made an heir of everlasting salvation ; through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who hveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, 
now and for ever. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest speah unto the Godfathers and Godmothers on this ivise. 

DEAPtLY beloved, ye have brought this Child here to be baptized, ye 
have prayed that our Lord Jesus Christ would vouchsafe to receive 
him, to release him of his sins, to sanctify him with the Holy Ghost, to give 
him the kingdom of heaven, and everlasting Hfe. Ye have heard also that 
our Lord Jesus Christ hath promised in his Gospel to grant all these things 
that ye have prayed for : which promise he, for his part, will most surely 
keep and perform. Wherefore, after this promise made by Christ, this 
Infant must also faithfully, for his part, promise by you that are his sureties, 
(until he come of age to take it upon himself) that he will renounce the devil 
and all his works, and constantly believe God's holy Word, and obediently 
keep his commandments. 

I demand therefore, 

DOST thou, in the name of this Child, renounce the devil and all his 
works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires 
of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow, 
nor be led by them ? 

Ansiver. I renounce them all. 

Minister. 

DOST thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and 
earth ? 

And m Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son our Lord? And that he was 
conceived by the Holy Ghost ; born of the Yirgin Mary ; that he sufiered 
405 



PUBLICK BAPTIS3I OF INFANTS. 



imder Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; that he went down 
into hell, and also did rise again the thnd day ; that he ascended into heaven, 
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; and from thence 
shall come again at the end of the world, to judge the Cjuick and the dead ? 

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost ; the holy Catholick Chm'ch ; 
the Communion of Saints ; the Eemission of sins ; the Eesurrection of the 
flesh ; and everlasting life after death ? 

Answer. All this I stedfastly believe. 

Miuister. 

TVILT thou be baptized m this faith ? 
T T Answer. That is my desne. 

Minister. 

TTy^ILT thou then obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, 
▼ » and walk in the same all the days of thy life ? 
Ansiver. I will. 

«" Then shall the Priest say, 

OMEECIFUL God, grant that the old Adam in iliis Child may be so 
buried, that the new man may be raised up in liini. Amen. 
Grant that all carnal affections may die in liini, and that all thins-s belons:- 
ing to the Spuit may hve and grow in liim. Amen. 

Grant that lie may have power and strength to have victory, and to triumph, 
against the de^il, the world, and the flesh. J^rnen. 

Grant that whosoever is here dedicated to thee by our ofiice and ministry 
may also be endued with heavenly virtues, and everlastingly rewarded, 
through thy mercy, blessed Lord God, who dost live, and govern all 
things, world without end. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY, everli^ung God, whose most dearly beloved Son Jesus 
Chi'ist, for the forgiveness of our sins, did shed out of his most 
precious side both water and blood ; and gave commandment to his disciples, 
' that they should go teach all nations, and baptize them In the Name of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; Eegard, we beseech thee, the suppli- 
cations of thy congregation ; sanctify this Water to the mystical washing away 
of sin ; and grant that tliis CiLild, now to be baptized therein, may receive the 
fulness of thy grace, and ever remain in the number of thy faithful and elect 
children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

% Then the Priest shall talce the Child into his hands, and shall say to the Godfathers and 

Godmothers, 

Name this Child. 

1" And then naming it aftrr them ^if tduy shall certify him that tht Cliild rmuj u:ell endure it) he 
shall dip it in tlit Water discreetly and ivardy. s'jyin'j, 

]Vf I baptize thee In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
^ • Holy Ghost. Amen. 

^ But if they certify that the Child is iceah, it shall suffice to pour Water upon it, saying the 

aforesaid icords, 

Vy I baptize thee In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
1^ • Holy Ghost. Amen. 
406 



PUBLICK BAPTIS]\[ OF INFANTS. 



^ Then the Frt'esf shall saij, 

WE receive this Child into the congregation of Christ's flock, * and do 
sign him with the sign of the Cross, ui token that 
* Here the Fried i^gpgafter lie shall not be ashamed to confess the faith 

f^vir'f' f of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his 
the Child s forehead. ' 

banner, against sm, the world, and the devii ; and to 
continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto Ms life's end. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest say, 

SEEINGr now, dearly beloved bretln^en, that this Child is regenerate, 
and grafted into the body of Christ's Chui'ch, let us give thanks unto 
Almighty God for these benefits ; and with one accord make our prayers 
imto him, that this Child may lead the rest of his hfe according to this 
beginning. 

^ Then shall he said, all kneeling; 

OUE Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But dehver us 
from evil, ximen. 

^ Then shall the Priest say, 

WE yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased 
thee to regenerate this Infant with thy holy Spirit, to receive him 
for thine own Child by adoption, and to incorporate him into thy holy 
Church. And humbly we beseech thee to grant, that he, bemg dead unto 
sin, and living unto righteousness, and being kmed with Christ in his death, 
may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of sin; and 
that as he is made ijartaher of the death of thy Son, he may also be ixirtaher 
of his resurrection ; so that finally, with the residue of thy holy Church, he 
may be an inheritor of thine everlasting kingdom ; through Christ om' Lord. 
Amen. 

^ Thm all standing up, the Priest shall say to the Godfathers and Godmothers this Exhoriat'on 

folloiving. 

FOEASMUCH as this Child hath promised by you his sureties to re- 
nounce the devil and all , his works, to believe in God, and to serve 
him ; ye must remember, that it is your parts and duties to see that this 
Infant be taught, so soon as he shall be able to learn, what a solemn vow, 
promise, and profession, he hath here made by you. And that he may know 
these things the better, ye shall call upon him to hear Sermons ; and chiefly 
ye shall provide, that he may learn the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the 
Ten Commandments, in the vulgar tongue, and all other things which a 
Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health ; and that this Child 
may be virtuously brought up to lead a godly and a Christian life ; remem- 
bermg always, that Baptism doth represent unto us our profession ; which is 
to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto him ; 
that, as he died, and rose again for us, so should we, who are baptized, die 
407 



PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



from sin, and rise again unto righteousness ; continually mortifying all om* 
evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness 
of living. 

Tlieii sludl he add and say, 

YE are to take care tliat this Child be brought to the Bishop to be con- 
firmed by him, so soon as he can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, 
and the Ten Commandments, in the vulgar tongue, and be further instructed 
in the Church- Catechism set forth for that purpose. 

IT is certain by God's Word, that Cliildren which are baptized, dying l)efore they commit 
actual sin, are undoubtedly saved. 

To take away all scruple concerning the use of the sign of the Cross in Baptism ; the true 
explication thereof, and the just reasons for the retaining of it, may be seen in the xxxth Canon , 
first published in the Year MDCIV. 



NOTES ON PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 

Baptism is the Sacrament which introduces us into covenant with God tlirough, and in, Christ. 
As a rite, though not as a sacrament, it was known from the earliest ages. Under certain forms 
it existed in the time of the patriarchs (Gen. xxxv. 2), and it was among the means of sancti- 
fication employed by Moses when the people were about to approach the holy Mount. Some of 
tlie most solemn incidents of sacred history were typical of baptism, as the flood (1 Pet. iii 21), 
and the passage through the Ked Sea, and under the cloud in the wilderness (1 Cor. x. 1 — 3). 
The Jewish writer Maimonides says, " By three things Israel entered into covenant — namely, by 
circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice." Lightfoot says that a tradition exists which states, that in 
the times of David and Solomon, when vast numbers of the heathen were converted to Judaism, 
baptism was the only rite of admission used. Anotlier states, that a person is not a proselyte till 
he is both circumcised and baptized. Still further, it was generally believed that the converts in 
the time of the Messiah would be so numerous that they must be admitted by baptism, and not by 
circumcision, "a tradition," it is observed, "which proved true, but not for the reason assigned." 
The Messiah was, indeed, looked for as one that should cleanse His people by a baptism the most 
eminently efficacious. This was the interpretation given to the words of Ezekiel (xxxvi. 25), 
" Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." The forerunner of our Lord, 
therefore, in adopting baptism as a sign of purification by repentance, used a rite to which the 
Jews were well accustomed. Their question was, by what authority he did it, the privilege of 
performing such an ordinance being properly confined to those who had a Divine commission. 
The baptism which he gave was not a sacrament. It was reserved for the Author of life and 
salvation to give to the cleansing waters a sacramental efficacy. His blessing and promise have 
made them, as the passage of the Eed Sea, a way from bondage to liberty ; or, as the waters of the 
Flood, from an old world steeped in corruption to a new ^vorld of holiness and hope. The authors 
of antiquity speak of this Sacrament under the most striking and pathetic terms, sometimes calling 
it " the laver of regeneration " — " the sacrament of grace, or absolution " — " the garment of im- 
mortality " — " unction and illumination." 

The Buhrics. 

The Kubrics at the head of this service are less attended to than is consistent with due respect to 
the ordinances of the Church. Attention to the first would tend greatly to the benefit of con- 
gregations at large, and ought to be rendered as due to the great authority and vast importance of 
the rite. In former ages there were two seasons for public baptism — Easter and Whitsuntide, 
and, in the Greek Church, the Epiphany was added. But the increase of the Church, and the 
consequent change in the number of infants and adults baptized, have rendered it expedient that 
any season of public worship should be allowed as a proper time for admitting believers, or their 
children; into covenant with Christ. 

It was the custom of the Church in earliest times for persons coming to baptism to have witnesses, 
or sponsors. A similar practice had prevailed among the Jews ; and, when the natme of the custom 
is properly understood, and attended to with a conscientious spirit, it is calculated to produce great 

408 



NOTES ON PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



practical ^idvantages. In the case of children, we may conceive the existence of a will, and that 
will, whenever brought into action, must dispose them to seek the good of their being. The 
promises made for tliem at baptism are given in the full understanding that the highest of 
blessings are thereby secured to them for ever. There can be no doubt, it may be fairly argued, 
that ageing unprejudiced, unperverted, undarkened by sin, would not refuse to enter into 
covenant with a God and Saviour who, in return for the greatest benefits, requires but obedience 
to laws in themselves essentially good. In the ancient Church, parents were allowed to be 
godfathers and godmothers ; but a canon of our own prohibits this, in order that children may 
have the advantage of instructors who are not already obliged by nature to provide for their 
religious education. The children to be baptized are directed to be brought to the font, which 
is so called from its answering to the fountain, or streams of running water, in which the 
disciples of Christ were at first made partakers of this divine ordinance. The length of our 
service only can have led to the violation of the other part of this Kubric. 

Note to end of Prayer after the Gospel. 

As baptism is a sacrament of admission, it is by its very nature to be administered but once. 
(Ephes, iv. 5.) Sins committed after baptism are not to be washed away by a repetition of this 
sacrament, but only by the blood of Christ, repentance and faith seeking mercy through his atoning 
merits. The exhortation and prayers following carry our thoughts at once both to the origin and 
the spiritual efficacy of baptism. After the first of the prayers, the Kubric, as originally pub- 
lished, directed the priest to ask the name of the child, and to cross its breast and forehead, with 
words similar to those used now at a later part of the service. At the conclusion of the second 
prayer, the evO spirit was exorcised in a set form, which commenced with these words, " I . 
command thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost, that thou come out and depart from these children." The Gospel, Exhortation, and 
Prayer which follow, are so full of plain instruction, that the most simple worshipper may learn 
therefrom much of his duty and his privileges. Nor is it possible that the greatest monarch on 
the earth could ask or obtain for his child more noble gifts than those which the poorest of 
Christ's people may here seek for his. 

" t Then shall the Priest." 

The address to the godfathers and godmothers, with the accompanying inquiry into their faith, 
is founded on the first principles of the Christian covenant. We are taught that the promise is 
to us and to our children,— that is, to us as believers, and to oui- ofispring as children of believers ; 
and St. Paul tells the Corinthians (1 Cor. vii. 14) that, were it not for the faith of at least one of 
the parents, the children would be unclean. It is highly necessary, therefore, that they who bring 
children to be baptized should themselves be in communion with Christ ; and hence this inquiry 
into their faith ; and the excellent provision of the 29th Canon, already alluded to, that persons 
ought not to be received as sponsors till they have received the Communion. There is also another, 
and equally obvious reason, for this examination : — Persons surely cannot be fit to take upon 
themselves the charge of instructing others when they themselves are ignorant of the elements of 
their faith and duty. It is much to be lamented that the ministers of the Chm-ch should have 
ever yielded to the careless or presumptuous spirit of the world, and so allowed this valuable part 
of the service to become in most cases nothing better than a form. In the first edition of the 
Liturgy, these questions were directed to the child. The last of the four was not added till the 
reign of Charles II. How earnest ought the Amen to be which follows the supplications of the 
priest, when, at the end of this brief examination, he asks for the power and blessing of the 
Spirit on the child ! 

Prayer of Consecration, &c. 

The Consecration Prayer was placed originally at the end of the Ofiice, there being formerly 
four times of the year for consecrating the water in the font, and no form of the kind being used 
in the baptismal service itself. In the second edition the form of consecration was left out, or the 
prayer so altered that it had no longer the nature of a form. At the last review these words were 
restored, " Sanctify this water to the mystical washing away of sin." 

The giving of a name at baptism is derived from the ancient Jewish custom of naming children 
at the time of their circumcision. It is a custom likely to be highly useful when its origin and 
design are recollected. We are called by a new name because engrafted into a new family, brought 
into new relationships, and made responsible for new duties. In one of the decrees of the Nicene 
Council it is especially recommended that the names of Apostles, or Saints, be chosen in pre- 
ference to any others ; and in tlie thirteenth century, a Synod held in England ordered that, if an 

409 3 G 



NOTES ON PUBLICK BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



improper name had been given at baptism, it should be changed when the person came to be 
confirmed. 

" ^ And then naming it, he shall clip,'' &c. 
Immersion was the ancient mode of administering baptism, but even in the earliest times the 
manner of administration ^Yas not thought so essential to the service that it would lose its value by 
being modified according to circumstances. There were cases in which sufficient water could not 
be obtained for the hnmersion of the whole body, and others in which sickness prevented its being 
done. The mystical signification of baptism, moi-eover, may be regarded as preserved under both 
the forms of administration. . In immersion, the dying unto sin, and being buried, and rising 
again is more significantly shown ; but by the spruikling of the water we signify the sprinkling 
of the blood of Christ, and, as some think, the throwing of earth upon om- bodies at bmial. In the 
first edition of the Liturgy, the Kubric dh-ected that the priest should dip the child in the water, 
and that three tunes— first on the right side, then on the left, and lastly with its face downwards. 
As this was thought to savour of superstition, one immersion only was directed in subsequent 
alterations of the service ; and many of the reformers regarding sprinkling a^ fully answering the 
design of baptism, it soon became common to use only that mode of administration. But, what- 
ever custom has done in this matter, our Church has abided by tlie prunitive example ; and though 
she allow the liberty of choice to scrupulous persons, yet, evidently by the wording of the Eubric, 
would lead us to follow the rule which has the argument both of antiquity and impressiveness on 
its side. The words used are those of Chiist Himself, and the person over whom they are used is 
thereby baptized not merely in the name, but irito the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. 

" ^ Then shall the Priest say." 
Among the ancient practices retained in the original Liturgy of King Edward was that of 
placing a white robe on the newly-baptized person at this part of the service. This was done with 
a form of words, declaring it to be as a sign of the innocency acquired in baptism ; and imme- 
diately after the priest pom-ed ointment on the person's head. The simply signing with the sign 
of the Cross was afterwards regarded as sufficient to declare the state and duties of the newly 
baptized. This is so plain and significant a sign that antiquity need scarcely be pleaded in 
favour of its being retained. But, unwilling to let it be supposed that any superstitious notions 
are connected with this use of the Cross, our Church declares expressly in the 30th Canon, that it 
is a thing indifferent, except as established by the constitutions of the Church. The short ex- 
hortation, the Lord's Prayer, and that which follows, were not added till the second edition of the, 
Litm-gy was prepared. In the concluding address, godfathers and godmothers, and all who are 
responsible for the Christian education of children, are taught an invaluable lesson of diligence 
and caution. Would tliat it were laid up in the hearts both of those who ought to teach, and of 
those who have been taught ! 




410 



THE MINISTEATION OF 

PRIVATE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN 

IN HOUSES. 

% The Curates of every Parish shall often admonish the people, that they defer not the Baptism, of 
their Children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their hirtli, or other Holy-day 
falling between, unless upon a great and reasonable cause, to be approved by the Curate. 

^ And also they shall warn them, that without like great cause and necessity they procure not their 
Children to be baptized at home in their houses. But when need shall compel them so to do, then 
Baptism shall be administered on tliis fashion : 

^ First, let the Minister of the Parish (or, in Ms absence, any other lawful Minister that can be 
procured) with them that are present call upon God, and say the Lord's Prayer, and so many of 
the Collects appointed to be said before in the Form of Publich Baptism, as the time and present 
exigence loill suffer. And then, the Child being named by some one that is present, the Minister 
shall pour Water upon it, saying these words ; 

NI baptize tliee In tlie Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
9 Holy Ghost. Amen. 

^ Then, cdl hieeling down, the Minister shall give thanks unto God, and say, 

WE yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased 
thee to regenerate this Infant with thy holy Spiiit, to receive him 
for thine own Child by adoption, and to incorporate him into thy holy 
Chm'ch. And we hnmbly beseech thee to grant, that as he is now made 
j^artaker of the death of thy Son, so he may be also of his resurrection ; and 
that finally, with the residue of thy Saints, he may inherit thine everlasting 
kingdom ; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

^ And let them not doubt, but that the Child so baptized is lawfully and sufficiently baptized, and 
ought not to be baptized again. Yet nevertheless, if the Child, ivhich is after this sort baptized, 
do afterward live, it is expedient that it be brought into the Church, to the intent that, if the 
Minister of the same Parish did himself baptize that Child, the Congregation may be certified of 
the true Form of Baptism, by him privately before used: In ivhich case he shall say thus, 

ICEETIFY you, that according to the due and prescribed Order of the 
Church, at such a time, and at such a lolace, before divers witnesses I 
baptized this Child. 

\ But if the Child ivere baptized by any other lawful Minister, then the Minister of the Parish, 
ichere the Child ims born or christened, shall examine and try ivhether the Child be lawfully 
baptized, or no. In which case, if those that bring any Child to the Church do answer, that the 
same Child is already baptized, then shall the Minister examine them further, saying, 

BY whom was this Child baptized ? ■ " 

Who was present when this Child was baptized ? 
Because some things essential to this Sacrament may happen to be omitted 
through fear or haste, in such times of extremity ; therefore I demand further 
of you. 

With what matter was this Child baptized ? 
With what words was this Child baptized ? 
411 



PEIYATE BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



t And if the ^linisier sliall nnd hj/ Hp ansicers of such as hring the Child, that all things ivere 
done as they ought to h, -. i]n n .<!,,f]I ,.,,f ,■],,■;.<}>:,! die Child again, hut shall receive him as one 
of thefloch of true Chr^-iinn i-'>i>i<, ^.i,!ni,i 

ICEKTIFY you, tliat in tliis case aU is well done, and according nnto 
due order, concerning the baptizing of this Child ; who being born in 
origmal sin, and in the wrath of God, is now, by the layer of Kegeneration in 
Baptism, received mto the nnmber of the children of God, and heirs of eyer- 
lasting life : for onr Lord Jesiis Christ doth not deny his grace and mercy 
unto such Infants, but most lovingly doth call them unto him, as the holy 
Gospel doth witness to our comfort on this wise. 

St. Marh x. 13. 

THEY brought young children to Christ, that he should touch them ; 
and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus 
saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Sufi'er the little children 
to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God. 
Yerily I say unto you, Y^hosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a 
Little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, 
put his hands upon them, and blessed them. 

t After the Gospel is read, the Minister shall mcd-:e this brief Exlim-tcd ion upon the words of 

the Gospel. 

BELOYED, ye hear in this Gospel the words of om^ Saviour Christ, 
that he commanded the children to be brought unto him; how he 
blamed those that would have kept them fi'om him ; how he exhorted all 
men to follow their innocency. Ye perceive how by this outward gesture 
and deed he declared his good will toward them ; for he embraced them in 
his arms, he laid his hands upon them, and blessed them. Doubt ye not 
therefore, but earnestly believe, that he hath likevise favourably received 
this present Infant ; that he hath embraced Mm with the arms of his mercy ; 
and (as he hath promised in his holy Y^ord) will give mito li im the blessing 
of eternal life, and make him iJcirtaJcer of his everlasting kingdom. Yliere- 
fore, we being thus persuaded of the good will of our heavenly Father, 
declared by his Son Jesus Christ, towards this Infant, let us faithfully and 
devoutly give thanks unto him, and say the Prayer which the Lord himself 
taught us : . 

OUR Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us 
from e^il. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, heavenly Father, we give thee humble 
thanks, that thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of thy 
grace, and faith in thee ; Increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith 
in us evermore. Give thy holy Spirit to this Infant, that he being born 
again, and being made an heir of everlasting salvation, thi'ough our Lord 
412 



PEIVATE BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



D 



Jesiis Christ, may continue tliy servant, and attain thy promise ; through the 
same our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee and 
the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen. 

f Then shall the Priest demand the Name of the Child; which being by the Godfathers and 
" Godmothers pronounced, the Minister shall say, 

DOST thou, in the name of this Child, renounce the devil and all his 
works, the vain pomp and glory of this world, with all covetous 
desires of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not 
follow, nor be led by them ? 
Ansiuer, I renounce them all. 

Minister. 

OST thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
and earth ? 

And in Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son our Lord ? And that he was 
conceived by the Holy Ohost ; born of the Virgin Mary ; that he suffered 
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; that he went down 
into hell, and also did rise again the third day ; that he ascended into heaven, 
and sitteth at the right hand of (rod the Father Almighty ; and from thence 
shall come again at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the dead ? 

And dost thou believe in the Holy G-host ; the holy Catholick Church ; 
the Communion of Saints ; the Kemission of sins ; the Piesurrection of the 
flesh ; and everlasting hfe after death ? 
Ansiver. All this I stedfastly believe. 

Minister. 

WILT thou then obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, 
and walk in the same all the days of thy life ? 
Answer. I will. 

t Then the Priest shall say, 

WE receive this Child into the congregation of Christ's flock,* and do 
sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that 
* Here the Priest }iereafter lie shall not be ashamed to confess the faith 
s/.aZZ ma7.eaCross «^on ^ crucified, and manfully to fight under his 

the Child s forehead. . , n n .i t -i j i. 

banner, agamst sm, the world, and the devil ; and to 
continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest say, 

SEEING now, dearly beloved brethren, that this Child is by Baptism 
regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ's Church, let us give 
thanks unto Almighty God for these benefits ; and with one accord make 
our prayers unto him, that he may lead the rest of his life according to this 
beginning. 

% Then shall the Priest say, 

WE yield thee most hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath 
pleased thee to regenerate this Infant with thy holy Spirit, to receive 
him for thine own Child by adoption, and to incorporate him into thy holy 
413 



PEIYATE BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 



Chnrcli. And liumbly we beseech thee to grant, tliat lie being dead unto 
sm, and h^ang mito righteousness, and being buried with Christ in his death, 
may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of sin ; and that' 
as he is made jMrtaJcer of the death of thy Son, he may also be partaker of 
his resuiTection ; so that finally, with the residue of thy holy Church, he may 
be an inheritor of thine everlasting kingdom ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

% Then, all standing up, the Minister shall make this Exhortation to the Godfathers and 

Godmothers. 

inOEASMUCH as this Child hath promised by you his sureties to re- 
J- noimce the devil and all his works, to believe in God, and to serve him - 
ye must remember, that it is your parts and duties to see that this Infant be 
taught, so soon as he shall be able to learn, what a solemn vow, promise, and 
profession he hath made by you. And that he may know these things the 
better, ye shaU caU upon him to hear Sermons ; and chiefly ye shall provide 
that he may learn the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Command- 
ments, m the vulgar tongue, and all other things which a Christian ought to 
know and believe to his soul's health ; and that this Child may be virtuously 
brought up to lead a godly and a Christian hfe ; remembering alway, that 
Baptism doth represent unto us our profession; which is, to follow the 
example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made hke unto him ; that, as he 
died, and rose again for us, so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and 
rise again unto righteousness ; continuaUy mortifying all our evil and corrupt 
affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living. 

f But if they which bring the Infant to the Church do make such uncertain answers to the Priests 
questions, as that tt cannot appear that the Child ivas baptized with Water, In the Name of the 
l ather, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, (rohich are essential parts of BaM^^^^ 
the Priest baptize i t in the form before appointed for Publick Baptism of Infants - sZin^^^^ 
the dipping of the Child in the Font, he shall use this form of words ^ ^ ' savingHhat at 

TF thou art not already baptized, N. I baptize thee In the Name of the 
J- Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 



NOTE ON PEIVATE BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 
As baptism is the divinely-appointed means of admission into covenant with Christ, no Christian 
parent will hazard his child's losing the benefit of such an ordinance. Our Church therefore with 
a corresponding tenderness, gives great liberty, as to the administration of this sacrament In 
former times, a dangerous laxity prevailed; persons who had no pretensions to the ministerial 

abuT; 7t T"" r"'' 1 -^f "° "'^T^ ^"P^"^- P^-^^^"* continuance of such an 
abuse, the Convocation winch assembled in 1575 directed that none but "a lawful minister or 
deacon ca led to be present for that purpose," should administer the rite. Liberty, horever i 
grven by the Eubnc to any lawful minister that can be procured ; ' and thus there is littll danie 

tLcinidt:i:T'^ 

W f 1 I 11 } ^^^^g^^^' ^« l^e, into the Church 

mere to be acknowledged as a member of God's family, and to become responsible for the fum": 
ment of its part ni the heavenly covenant. 



414 



THE MINISTEATION OF 

BAPTISM TO SUCH AS ARE OF EIPER YEARS, 

AXD ABLE TO ANSWER FOR THEMSELVES. 

f Wlien anij such persons, as are of riper years, are to he haptized, timely notice shall he given to 
the Bishop, or whom he shall appoint for that purpose, a week hefore at the least, hy the Parents, 
or some other discreet persons ^ that so due care may he taken for their Examination, ivhether 
they he supciently instructed in the Principles of the Christian Beligion ; and that they may he 
exhorted to prepare themselves with Prayers and Fasting for the receiving of this holy Sacrament. 

^ And if they shall he found fit, then the Godfathers and Godmothers {the people heing assemhled 
%ipon the Sunday or Holy-day appoinUd) shall he ready to present them at the Font immediately 
after the second Lesson, either at Morning or Evening Prayer, as the Curate in his discretion 
shall think fit. 

^ And standing there, the Priest shall ask, vhether any of the j^ersons here presented he haptized, or 
no: if they shall answer, No ; then shall the Priest say thus, 

DEAKLY beloYed, forasmucli as all men are conceiyed and born in sin, 
(and that wliicli is born of the flesh is flesh,) and they that are in the 
flesh cannot please God, but hve in sm, committmg many actual trans- 
gressions ; and that our Saviour Chiist saith, None can enter mto the king- 
dom of God, except he be regenerate and born anew of Water and of the 
holy Ghost ; I beseech you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous goodness he will grant to these ^jersons 
that which by nature theij cannot have ; that theij may be baptized with Water 
and the holy Ghost, and received mto Christ's holy Chm^ch, and be made 
lively members of the same. 

^ Tlien shall the Priest say. 

Let us pray. 

And here all the Congregation shall kneel.') 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst save 
Noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water ; and also 
didst safely lead the children of Israel thy people through the Eed Sea, 
figm^uig thereby thy holy Baptism ; and by the Baptism of thy well-beloved 
Son Jesus Christ, in the Eiver Jordan, didst sanctify the element of water 
to the mystical washing away of sin ; We beseech thee, for thine infinite 
mercies, that thou wilt mercifully look upon these thy servants ; wash them 
and sanctify ther,i with the holy Ghost, that they, being delivered from thy 
wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ's Church ; and being stedfast 
in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted m chaiity, may so pass the waves of 
this troublesome world, that finally tliey may come to the land of everlasting 
life, there to reign with thee world mthout end ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY and immortal God, the aid of all that need, the helper of 
all that flee to thee for succom^, the life of them that believe, and the 
resm-rection of the dead ; AYe call upon thee for these jjersons, that they, 
coming to thy holy Baptism, may receive remission of tlieir sms by spiritual 
415 



PUBLICK BAPTISM OF SUCH 



regeneration. Keceive tliem^ Lord, as tliou liast promised by thy well- 
beloYed Son, saying, Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; 
knock, and it shall be opened unto you : So give now unto us that ask ; let 
us that seek find ; open the gate unto us that knock ; that these ijersons may 
enjoy the everlasting benediction of thy heavenly washing, and may come to 
the eternal kingdom which thou hast promised by Christ om- Lord. Amen. 

\ Then shall the peoj^le stand up, and the Priest shall say. 

Hear the words of the Gospel, written by Saint John, in the third Chapter, 
beginning at the first Yerse. 

THEKE was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the 
Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Babbi, 
we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do these 
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said 
unto him, Yerily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a 
man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his 
mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Yerily, verily I say unto 
thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye 
must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof ; but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth ; so 
is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

^ After lohich he shall say this Exhortation following. 

BELOYED, ye hear in this Gospel the express words of our Saviour 
Christ, that except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God. Whereby ye may perceive the great 
necessity of this Sacrament, where it may be had. Likewise, immediately 
before his ascension into heaven, (as we read in the last Chapter of Saint 
Mark's Gospel,) he gave command to his disciples, saying. Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Which 
also sheweth unto us the great benefit we reap thereby. Eor which cause 
Saint Peter the Apostle, when upon his first preaching of the Gospel many 
were pricked at the heart, and said to him and the rest of the Apostles, Men 
and brethren, what shall we do ? replied and said unto them, Bepent, and be 
baptized every one of you for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the 
gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and your children, and 
to all that are afar ofP, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And 
with many other words exhorted he them, saying, Save yom^selves from this 
untoward generation. For (as the same Apostle testifieth in another place) 
even Baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the 
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God,) by the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ. Doubt ye not therefore, but earnestly believe, that he will 
416 



AS AEE OF KIPEE YEAES. 



favourably receive these present persons, truly repenting, and coming unto 
him by faith ; that he will grant them remission of their sins, and bestow upon 
them the holy Ghost ; that he will give them the blessing of eternal life, and 
make them partakers of his everlasting kingdom. 

Wherefore we being thus persuaded of the good will of our heavenly Father 
towards these persons, declared by his Son Jesus Christ ; let us faithfully and 
devoutly give thanks to him, and say, 

ALMIGrHTY and everlasting God, heavenly Father, we give thee humble 
thanks, for that thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of 
thy grace, and faith in thee : Increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith 
in us evermore. Give thy holy Spirit to these persons, that they may be born 
again, and be made heirs of everlasting salvation ; through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and for 
ever. Amen. 

^ Then the Priest shall speak to the persons to he baptized on this wise : 

WELL-beloved, who are come hither desiring to receive holy Baptism, 
ye have heard how the congregation hath prayed, that our Lord 
Jesus Christ would vouchsafe to receive you and bless you, to release you of 
your sins, to give you the kingdom of heaven, and everlasting life. Ye have 
heard also, that our Lord Jesus Christ hath promised in his holy Word to 
grant all those things that we have prayed for ; which promise he, for his 
part, will most surely keep and perform. 

Wherefore, after this promise made by Christ, ye must also faithfully, for 
your part, promise in the presence of these your Witnesses, and this whole 
congregation, that ye will renounce the devil and all his works, and con- 
stantly believe God's holy word, and obediently keep his commandments. 

*|[ Then shall the Priest demand of each of the persons to he baptized, severally, these 
Questions following : 

Question. 

DOST thou renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory 
of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the carnal desires 
of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led by them ? 
Answer. I renounce them all. 

Question. 

DOST thou believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and 
earth ? 

And in Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son our Lord ? And that he was 
conceived by the Holy Ghost ; born of the Virgin Mary ; that he suffered 
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; that he went down into 
hell, and also did rise again the third day ; that he ascended into heaven, and 
sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; and from thence shall 
come again at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the dead ? 

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost ; the holy Catholick Church ; 
the Communion of Saints ; the Eemission of sins : the Eesurrection of the 
flesh ; and everlasting life after death ? 

Ansvjer. All this I stedfastly believe. 

417 3 H 



PUBLICK BAPTISM OF SUCH 



Question. 

WILT tlioii be baptized in this faith ? 
Answer. That is my desire. 

Question. 

WILT thoii then obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, 
and walk in the same all the days of thy hfe ? 
Answer. I will endeavour so to do, God being my helper. 

^ Then shall the Priest say, 

OMEECIFUL God, grant that the old Adam in these persons may be 
so buried, that the new man may be raised up in them. Amen. 
Grant that all carnal affections may die in them, and that all things be- 
longmg to the Sphit may live and grow in them. Amen. 

Grant that they may have power and strength to have victory, and to 
triumph, against the devil, the world, and the flesh. Amen. 

Grant that they, being here dedicated to thee by our office and ministry, 
may also be endued with heavenly vhtues, and everlastingly rewarded, 
through thy mercy, blessed Lord God, who dost Hve, and govern all 
things, world without end. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY, overliving God, whose most dearly beloved Son Jesus 
Christ, for the forgiveness of our sins, did shed out of his most 
precious side both water and blood, and gave commandment to his disciples, 
that they should go teach all nations, and baptize them In the Name of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost : Eegard, we beseech thee, the suppli- 
cations of this congregation ; sanctify this Water to the mystical washing 
away of sin ; and grant that the persons now to be baptized therein may 
receive the fulness of thy grace, and ever remain in the number of thy faithful 
and elect children, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest tahe each Person to he haptized hij the right hand, and placing him conve- 
niently hy the Font, according to Ms discretion, shall ash the Godfathers 'and Godmothers the 
Name; and then shall dip him in the water, or pour water upon him, saying, 

NI baptize thee In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
• Holy Ghost. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest say, 

WE receive this person into the congregation of Christ's flock ; *and do 
sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that 
* Here the Priest hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith 

shall make a Cross upon m • l "iji i rn^j^ij -i i • 

the person^s forehead. ^^^^^^ crucified, and manfully to fight under his 

banner, against sin, the world, and the devil ; and to 
continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest say, 

SEEING now, dearly beloved brethren, that these persons are regenerate, 
and grafted into the body of Cln-ist's Church, let us give thanks unto 
Almighty God for these benefits, and with one accord make our prayers 
unto him, that they may lead the rest of their life according to this 
beginning. 

418 



AS AEE OF EIPEE YEAES. 



% Tlien shall he said the Lord's Prayer, all hneeling. 

OUE Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But dehver us 
from evil. Amen. 

WE yield thee humble thanks, heavenly Father, that thou hast vouch- 
safed to call us to the knowledge of thy grace, and faith in thee; 
Increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith in us evermore. Give thy 
holy Spirit to these persons ; that, being now born again, and made heirs of 
everlasting salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, they may continue thy 
servants, and attain thy promises ; through the same Lord Jesus Christ thy 
Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, 
everlastingly. Amen. 

^ Then, all standing up, the Priest shall use this Exhortation following ; speaMng to the Godfathers 

and Godmothers first. 

FOEASMUCH as these ^persons have promised in your presence to re- 
nounce the devil and all his works, to believe in God, and to serve" 
him ; ye must remember, that it is your part and duty to put them in mind, 
what a solemn vow, promise, and profession they have now made before this 
congregation, and especially before you their chosen witnesses. And ye are 
also to call upon them to use all diligence to be rightly instructed in God's 
holy Word ; that so they may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and live godly, righteously, and soberly in this present 
world. 

And then, speaking to the new haptized persons, he shall proceed, and say,) 

AND as for you, who have now by Baptism put on Christ, it is your part 
and duty also, being made the children of God and of the light, by 
faith in Jesus Christ, to walk answerably to your Christian calling, and as 
becometh the children of light; remembering always that Baptism repre- 
senteth unto us our profession; which is, to follow the example of our 
Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto him ; that as he died, and rose 
again for us ; so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again 
unto righteousness ; continually mortifying all our evil and corrui^t afiections, 
and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living. 

% It is expedient that every person, thus haptized, should he confirmed hy the Bishop so soon after his 

J^aptism as conveniently may he ; that so he may he admitted to the holy Communion. 
^ If any persons not haptized in their infancy shcdl he hrought to he haptized hefore they come to 

years of discretion to ansiver for themselves ; it may suffice to use the Office for Puhlick Baptism . 

of Infants, or {in case of extreme danger) the Office for Private Baptism ; only changing the word 

[Infant] for [Child or Person] as occasion requireth. 



NOTE. 

The Office for the Baptism of such as are of Kiper Years did not exist in any of the early 
editions of the Liturgy, and was only introduced when large numhers of persons who liad been 
brought up as Quakers or Anabaptists began to return into the bosom of the Church. This was 
chiefly the case after the Kestoration, and the Office was, therefore, added at the last review. 
The few points in which it differs from the preceding services are merely such as difference of 
age renders evidently necessary or expedient. 

419 



A CATECHISM, 



THAT IS TO SAY, 



AN INSTRUCTION TO BE LEARNED OF EVERY PERSON, BEFORE HE BE 
BROUGHT TO BE CONFIRMED BY THE BISHOP. 




Question, 

TT7HAT is your Name ? 
T T Answer, N. or M. 
Question. Who gave you this Name ? 

Ansiver. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism; wherein I 
was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the 
kingdom of heaven. 

Question. What did your Godfathers and Godmothers then for you ? 

Answer. They did promise and vow three things in my name. First, 
that I should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of 
this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. Secondly, that I 
420 



A CATECHISM. 



should believe aU the Articles of the Christian Faith. And thhdly, that I 
should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all 
the days of my life. 

Question. Dost thou not think that thou art bound to believe, and to do, 
as they have promised for thee ? 

Answer. Yes verily ; and by God's help so I will. And I heartily thank 
oui- heavenly Father, that he hath called me to this state of salvation, through 
Jesus Christ our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me his grace, that 
I may continue in the same unto my life's end. 

Catecliist. 

Eehearse the Articles of thy Behef. 

Ansiver. 

IBELIEYE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth : 
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the 
Holy Ghost, Born of the Yirgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was 
crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell ; The third day he rose 
again from the dead. He ascended into heaven. And sitteth at the right hand _ 
of God the Father Almighty ; From thence he shall come to judge the quick 
and the dead. 

I beheve in the Holy Ghost ; The holy Catholick Church ; The Com- 
munion of Saints ; The forgiveness of sins ; The Eesurrection of the Body ; 
And the Life everlasting. Amen. 

Question. What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Behef? 

Answer. First, I learn to beheve in God the Father, who hath made me, 
and all the world. 

Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind. 

Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect 
people of God. 

Question. 

You said, that your Godfathers and Godmothers did promise for you, that 
you should keep God's Commandments. Tell me how many there be ? 
Answer. Ten. 
Question. Which be they ? 

Ansiver. 

THE same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus, saymg, 
I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of bondage. 

1. Thou shalt have none other gods but me. 

n. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness 
of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water 
under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them : 
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers 
upon the children, unto the thhd and fourth generation of them that hate 
me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my 
commandments. 
421 



A CATECHISM. 



III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy Grod in vain : for 
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain. 

lY. Eememher that thou keep holy the Sabhath-day. Six days shalt thou 
labour, and do all thou hast to do ; but the seventh day is the Sabbatli 
of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy 
son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and 
the stranger that is Avithin thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven 
and eaxth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; where- 
fore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and haUowed it. 

Y. Honom- thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the 
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

YI. Thou shalt do no mm'der. 

YII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

YIII. Thou shalt not steal. 

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbom-'s wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor 
any thing that is his. 

Question. 

What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments ? 
Ansiver. I learn two things : my duty towards God, and my duty towards 
my Neighbour. 

Question. What is thy duty towards God ? 

Ansiver. My duty towards God, is to believe in him, to fear him, and to 
love him with all my heart, with all my mind, vrith all my soul, and with all 
my strength ; to worship him, to give him thanks, to put my whole trust in 
him, to caU upon him, to honom' his holy Name and his Word, and to serve 
him truly all the days of my life. 

Question. What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour ? 

Ansiver. My duty towards my Neighbom-, is to love him as myself, and 
to do to aU men, as I would they should do unto me : To love, honour, and 
succom- my father and mother : To honour and obey the Queen, and all that 
are put in authority under her : To submit myself to aU my governours, 
teachers, spiritual pastors and masters : To order myself lowly and reverently 
to all my betters : To hurt no body by word nor deed : To be true and just 
in all my deahng : To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart : To keep my 
hands from picking and steahng, and my tongue from e^ol-speaking, lying, 
and slandering : To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity : 
Not to covet nor desire other men's goods ; but to learn and labom' truly to 
get mine own -living, and to do my duty in that state of life, unto which it 
shall please God to call me. 

Catecliist. 

My good Child, know this, that thou art not able to do these things of 
thyself, nor to walk in the Commandments of God, and to serve him, without 
his special grace ; which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent 
prayer. Let me hear therefore, if thou canst sav the Lord's Prayer. 
422 



A CATECHISM. 



Anstver. 

OUE Father, which art in heayen, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give ns 
this day our daily bread. And forgive ns our trespasses, As we forgive them 
that trespass against ns. And lead ns not into temptation; But deliver ns 
from evil. Amen. 

Question. What deshest thon of God in this Prayer ? 

Ansicer. I deshe my Lord God om- heavenly Father, who is the giver of 
all goodness, to send his grace nnto me, and to all people ; that we may 
worship him, serve him, and obey him, as we ought to do. And I pray unto 
God, that he will send us all things that be needful both for our souls and 
bodies ; and that he will be merciful unto us, and forgive us our sins ; and 
that it ^t11 please him to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and 
bodily ; and that he will keep us from all sm and wickedness, and from our 
ghostly enemy, and from everlasting death. And this I trust he will do of 
his mercy and goodness, through om^ Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore I 
say, Amen, So be it. 

Question. 

HOW many sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Chui^ch ? 
Ansiver. Two only, as generally necessary to salvation, that is to say. 
Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. 

Question. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament ? 
Answer. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual 
grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we 
receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. 
Question. How many parts are there in a Sacrament ? 
Ansiver. Two ; the outward visible sign, and the inward sphitual grace. 
Question. What is the outward visible sign or form in Baptism ? 
Answer. Water ; wherein the person is baptized In the Name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
Question. What is the inward and spiritual grace ? 

Ansiver. A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness : for bemg 
by nature bom in sin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the 
children of grace. 

Question. What is required of persons to be baptized ? 

Ansiver. Eepentance, whereby they forsake sin ; and Faith, whereby they 
stedfastly beheve the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament. 

Question. Why then are Infants baptized, when by reason of their tender 
age they cannot perform them ? 

Ansiver. Because they promise them both by their Sureties ; which pro- 
mise, when they come to age, themselves are bound to perform. 

Question. Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained ? 

Answer. For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of 
Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby. 

Question. What is the outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper ? 
423 



A CATECHISM. 



Answer. Bread and Wine, wliicli the Lord hath commanded to be re- 
ceived. 

Q uestion. What is the inward part, or thing signified ? 

Ansiver. The Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed 
taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper. 

Question. What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby ? 

Answer. The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and 
Blood of Christ, as our bodies are by the Bread and Wine. 

Question. AVhat is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper ? 

Answer. To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their 
former sins, stedfastly purposing to lead a new life ; have a lively faith in 
Grod's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death ; 
and be in charity with all men. 

% Hie Curate of every Parish shall diligently upon Sundays and Holy-days, after the second Lesson 
at Evening Prayer, openly in the Church instruct and examine so many Children of his Parish 
sent unto him, as he shall think convenient, in some part of this Catechism. 

^ And all Fathers, Mothers, Masters, and Dames, shall cause their Children, Servants, and Appren- 
tices, (lohich have not learned their Catechism,) to come to the Church at the time a.ppointed, and 
obediently to hear, and he ordered hy the Curate, until such time as they have learned all that is 
here appointed for them to learn. 

^ So soon as Children are come to a competent age, and can say, in their Mother Tongue, thf^ Creed, 
the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments ; and. also can answer to the other questions of this 
short Catechism,; they shall he brought to the Bishop. And every one shall have a Godfather, or a 
Godmother, as a Witness of their Confirmation. 

*j[ And whensoever the Bishop shall give knowledge for Children to he brought unto him for their 
Confirmation, the Curate of every Parish shall either bring, or send in writing, with his hand 
sul)scribed thereunto, the names of all such persons within his Parish, as he shaWthinlc fit to be 
presented to the Bishop to he confirmed. And, if the Bishop approve of them, he shall confirm 
them in manner following. 



NOTE. 

The knowledge of religion is not to be acquired without an attention proportioned to the import- 
ance of the subject. In all ages, therefore, it has been a prime duty with conscientious ministers 
of the Gospel to excite the people to a careful study of the principles of their faith. The primitive 
Churches had a class of teachers employed entirely in imparting the elements of knowledge to the 
ignorant or inexperienced. They obtained the name of Catechists ; and the candidates for baptism, 
whom they chiefly instructed, were called Catechumens, The celebrated Origen was made a 
catechist in the Church of Alexandria in the eigliteenth year of his age, and consequently before 
he could hold the sacred office of deacon, or priest ; but Chrysostom, it is said, was a catechist at 
Antioch when he enjoyed tlie rank of Presbyter. In a comparison made by an ancient writer, in 
which the Church is represented under the figure of a ship ; the bishop is compared to the pilot, 
the Presbyters are spoken of as the mariners, the deacons as the chief rowers, and the catechists 
as the persons employed in receiving passengers into the vessel. The catechumens, or candidates 
for baptism, were admitted to the advantages of Christian instruction, with a solemnity which 
proved to them the value of the privilege. Their probation continued in ordinary circumstances 
for two years ; and as they were commonly persons of mature age, it is easy to perceive how 
large a portion of religious knowledge they must have enjoyed before they were admitted into the 
Church of Christ, or made partakers of its ordinances. The general profession of Christianity, 
and the consequent prevalence of infant baptism, led to the gradual discontinuance of this careful 
and direct method of instruction ; but few circumstances have conduced more to tlie injury of 
religious feeling than its having been taken for granted by the Church and its members, 
that the system of strict catechizing might be safely dispensed with. Such a provision, 
seemingly, was made by the founders of tlie Eeformation for tlie general instruction of the people, 
that if the Church of this and other countries had continued to act according to their spirit, the 

424 



KOTE ON CATECHISM. 



people would not have been left so long in a state of dangerous ignorance. Our own Catech.isni is 
among the shortest devised, but it abounds in the instruction most necessary to a person anxious 
to know the principles of Scriptm-e truth. It was not compiled merely for the use of children, nor 
is it intended to supply the place of a more explanatory instruction, which it was expected every 
minister would give his people, drawing his topics from the Catechism itself, and dilating on its 
questions and answers till the whole of its several heads became familiar to his hearers. In the 
primitive times the Creed, tlie Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, were all that the 
catechumens were obliged to commit to memory. These also formed the substance of our own 
Catechism at the commencement of the Eefoi-mation. In the reign of James I. the part concerning 
the Saci-aments was added by Bishop Overal at the request of the king and the other prelates. 

The Kubrics at the end of the Catechism teach both ministers and people tlieir duty in respect 
to the instruction of the ignorant. Different chcumstances may necessarily occasion some variety 
as to the times of public catechizing. But it is plain, not only from these Piubrics, but from the 
o9th Canon, that our Church requires its frequent repetition, and considers it as an essential part 
of its iustitutions. Such vast benefits have been found to result from a diligent attention to this 
mode of instruction, that every faithful and consistent Christian must earnestly desire to see the 
time arrive when it shall again be practised with all the earnestness and wisdom which its import- 
ance demands. Xo churchman ought to be ignorant that it is expressly enjoined in the Canon 
mentioned above, that the clergyman of every parish ' ' shall, for half an hour or more, examine 
and instruct the youth and ignorant persons of his parish in the Ten Commandments, the Articles 
of the Belief, and in the Lord's Prayer ; and shall dihgently hear, instruct, and teach them the 
Catechism set forth in the Book of Common Prayer." To this it is added, "And all fathers, 
mothers, masters, and mistresses, shall cause their children, servants, and apprentices, which have 
not learned the Catechism, to come to the Chujch at the time appointed, obediently to hear, and 
to be ordered by the minister, until they have learned the same. And if any minister neglect his 
duty herein, let him be sharply reproved upon the first complaint, and true notice thereof given to 
the bishop, or ordinary of the place." Again, "And likewise if any of the said fathers, mothers, 
masters, or mistresses, children, servants, or apj)rentices, shall neglect their duties, as the one sort 
in not causing them to come, and the other in refusing to learn, as aforesaid ; let them be suspended 
by their ordinaries, if they be not children, and if they so persist by the space of a month, then let 
them be excommunicated." The practice of catechising in schools is highly to be applauded and 
valued : but a dangerous error is committed if it be supposed to lessen the necessity of catechising 
iu churches, whereby a greater degree of seriousness is secured, and the more advanced in age 
are assisted in acquiring a knowledge of the Gospel and of their duty. 




425 



THE ORDER OF 



CONFIRMATION, 

OR LAYING ON OF HANDS UPON THOSE THAT ARE BAPTIZED AND COME 
TO YEARS OF DISCRETION. 




^ Upon the day appointed, all that are to he then Confirmed, leing placed, and standing in order, 
before the Bishop ; he (or some other Minister appointed by him) shall read this Preface following. 

mo tlie end that Confirmation maybe ministered to tlie more edifying of 
i- such as shall receive it, the Chmxh hath thought good to order, That 
none hereafter shall be confirmed, but such as can say the Creed, the Lord's 
Prayer, and the Ten Commandments ; and can also answer to such other 
Questions, as in the short Catechism are contained: which order is very 
convenient to be observed ; to the end, that children, benig now come to the 
years of discretion, and having learned what their Godfathers and God- 
mothers promised for them in Baptism, they may themselves, with their own 
426 



THE OKDEK OF CONFIRMATION. 



month and consent, openly before the Church, ratify and confirm the same ; 
and also promise, that by the grace of Grod they will evermore endeavour 
themselves faithfully to observe such things, as they, by their own confession, 
have assented unto 

^ Then shall the Bishop say, 

DO ye here, in the presence of Grod, and of this congregation, renew the 
solemn promise and vow that was made in your name at your Baptism ; 
ratifying and confirming the same in your own persons, and acknowledging 
yom^selves bound to beheve, and to do, all those things, which your God- 
fathers and Godmothers then undertook for you ? 

^ And every one shall audibly answer. 

' Ido. 

TJie Bisliop. 

OUR help is in the Name of the Lord ; 
Answer. Who hath made heaven and earth. 
Bishoj). Blessed be the name of the Lord ; 
Ansiver. Henceforth, world without end. 
BislioiJ. Lord, hear our prayers. 
Ansiver. And let our cry come uuto thee. 

The Bisliop. Let us pray. 

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate 
these thy servants by Water and the holy Ghost, and hast given unto 
them forgiveness of all their sins ; Strengthen them, we beseech thee, 
Lord, with the Holy Ghost the Comforter, and daily increase in them thy 
manifold gifts of grace ; the spirit of wisdom and understanding ; the spirit 
of counsel and ghostly strength ; the spirit of knowledge and true godliness ; 
and fill them, Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, now and for ever. 
Amen. 

^ Then all of them in order hneeling before tlie Bishop, he shall lay his hand upon the head of every 

one severally, saying, 

DEFEND, Lord, this thy Child [or this thtj Servant] with thy heavenly 
grace, that he may continue thine for ever ; and daily increase in thy 
holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom. 
Amen. 

^ Tlien shall the Bishop say. 

The Lord be with you. 
Answer. And with thy spirit. 

*[[ And icdl hneeling down) the Bishop shall add, . ^ " v. 

Let US pray. 

OUR Father, which art in heaven, HalloAved be thy Name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this 
day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them 
that tr^pass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us 
from evil. Amen. 
427 



THE OEDER OF CONFIRMATION. 



And this Collect 

ALMIGHTY and eveiiiving God, who makest us botli to will and to do 
tliose things that be good and acceptable unto thy divine Majesty ; We 
make our humble supplications mito thee for these thy servants, upon whom 
(after the example of thy holy Apostles) we have now laid om* hands, to 
certify them (by this sign) of thy favour and gracious goodness towards them. 
Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, ever be over them ; let thy Holy 
Spirit ever be with them ; and so lead them in the knowledge and obedience 
of thy Word, that in the end they may obtain everlasting hfe ; through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, 
ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, 
to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, in the ways 
of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments ; that, through thy most 
mighty protection both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and 
soul ; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

^ Then the Bishop shall Uess them, saying thus, 




iHE Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen. 



% And there sliall none he admitted to the holy Communion, until such time as he he confirmed, or he 
ready and desirous to he confirmed: 



NOTE. 

CoNTiEMATiON in the primitive Cburcli was usually administered immediately after baptism, and 
consisted in the bishop's giving his blessing to the newly -baptized persons, which was accom- 
panied by a second anointing, by imposition of hands, and signing with the Cross. Even infants 
were thus confirmed in ancient times, and the rite was evidently regarded in no other light than 
as an appendage to baptism. It continued to be viewed in this manner for many hundred years, 
and during this period — that is, till about the close of the eighth century, even the Communion was 
administered to cliildren of the tenderest age. As the circumstances of the Church have changed, 
it has been thought expedient to regard this rite not simply as a confirmation of the blessing given 
at baptism, but as a confirmation of faith to which the person receiving it becomes himself a party. 
Hence it is properly deferred till he is of an age to understand the principles of his faith, and the 
duties for which he becomes responsible by the profession of belief. 

Imposition of hands is a part of the rite for which there is the plain authority of Apostolic 
example. St. Paul speaks of the " laying on of hands " in immediate connection with the doctrine 
of baptism. (Heb. vi. 3.) When Peter and John had preached to the Samaritans, " they laid 
their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts viii. 14.) In the same manner 
St. Paul laid his hands on the disciples at Ephesus; and innumerable allusions to this rite, in 
accounts of the early Church, plainly show that it continued to be regarded as a custom which 
ought to be observed in conformity with these primitive sanctions. But however venerable it may 
be as an Apostolic and significant form of blessing, it possesses not the characteristics which are 
deemed necassary to constitute a Sacrament. Our Church, therefore, while it retains Confirmation 
as a useful and important ceremony, numbers it not with the Sacraments ; and insists upon its 
being received, not as resting on a direct command of Christ, but as an ordinance of the Churcli^ 
acting by the example of the Apostles, and of Apostolic men and Churches in the purest times of 
the Gospel, • 

The sliort address with which the service commences was not inserted till the last review in 1661. 
Before that, there was a Eubric which spoke of Confirmation as a means of grace and strength to 

428 



NOTE ON THE OEDEE OF CONFIEMATION. 



be bestowed on cLildren when abont to enter the workl ; but not with any clearness of its nature 
as an ordinance for the declaration of faith. The accompanying question was also introduced at 
the last review, the original service having commenced with the succeeding ejaculations, taken 
from the Psalms. (Psalms cxxiv. 8 ; cxiii. 2 ; cii. 1.) The prayer which follows is founded on 
Isaiah xi. 2, and was used in the most ancient Churches. To those who come rightly prepared 
for the ordinance, it will afford inexpressible satisfaction, as will the blessing and the confirmatory 
sign of their being admitted, in the assembly of the faithful, to all the enjoyments of Church 
Communion. The imposition of hands was almost universally confined to bishops in the early 
Churches. Some cases appear to have occurred in which Presbyters performed the ceremony; 
but it seems to have been either under remarkable circumstances, or with certain limitations, that 
they were permitted to exercise this highest of the functions of the Church. According to the 
first book of King Edward, the imposition of hands " was to be accompanied with the sign of the 
Cross and the words of the Prayer were somewhat different, referring both to this practice and 
to that of anointing, which had only lately been discontinued. The salutation of " Peace be with 
you," in the original service, followed the imposition of hands. This at the last review was 
changed into the present form ; and at the same time the Lord's Prayer was introduced, which 
had not before a place in the Ofiice. The concluding Collect from the Communion Service was 
added at the Eestoration. 

It is greatly to be hoped that this edifying and impressive ordinance may be regarded with 
more seriousness than it seems to have been in our Church during late years. A much longer 
preparation than is usually given is necessary to effect this important object — more reading, more 
catechising, more thought, and more prayer. 




429 



THE FORM OF 

SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY. 




t First the Banns of all that are to he married together must he puhlished in the Church three 
several Sundays, during the time of Morning Service, or of Evening Service, {if there he no 
Morning Service,) immediately after the second Lesson ; the Curate saying after the accustomed 
manner, 

I PUBLISH the Banns of Marriage between M. of and N. of . 
If any of you know cause, or just impediment, wliy these two persons 
should not be joined together in holy Matrimony, ye are to declare it. This 
is the first [second, or third~\ time of asking. 

t And if the persons that are to he married dwell in divers Farishes, the Banns must he asked in 
hoth Farishes ; and the Curate of the one Farish shall not solemnize Matrimony hetwixt them, 
without a Certificate of the Banns heing thrice ashed, from the Curate of the other Farish. 

^ At the day and time apjwinted for solemnization of Matrimony, the persons to he married shall 
come into tlr' hodij of the Cinnr-h with their friends and neiglibours: and there standing together, 
the Man on thr riq],f Inn,, I ,iih1 the Woman on the left, the Priest shcdl say, 

430 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATKIMONY= 



DEAELY beloYed, v;e are gathered together here in the sight of God, 
and in the face of this congregation, to join together this Man and this 
Woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honom^able estate, instituted of 
God in the time of man's innocency, signifying imto ns the mystical imion 
that is betwixt Christ and his Church ; which holy estate Christ adorned 
and beautified with his presence, and fu'st miracle that he wrought, in Cana 
of Galilee ; and is commended of Saint Paul to be honourable among all 
men : and therefore is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, un- 
advisedly, Hghtly, or wantonly, to satisfy men's carnal lusts and appetites, 
like brute beasts that have no understanding ; but reverently, discreetly, 
advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God ; duly considering the causes for 
which Matrimony was ordained. 

First, It was ordained for the procreation of children, to be brought up in 
the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy Name. 

Secondly, It was ordamed for a remedy against sin, and to avoid forni- 
cation ; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, 
and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ's body. 

Thirdly, It was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that - 
the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity. Into 
which holy estate these two persons present come now to be jomed. There- 
fore if any man can shew any just cause, why they may not lawfully be 
joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace. 

^ Aiid a/fj, spealxing unto the persons' that shall he married, lie sTiall say, 

IEEQUIKE and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful clay 
of judgement when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if 
either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined 
together in Matrimony, ye do now confess it. For be ye well assured, that 
so many as are coupled together otherwise than God's AYord doth allow are 
not joined together by God ; neither is their Matrimony laAvful. 

% At ich'cli day o f Marriage, if any man do alledge and declare any impediment, v:liy they may not 
he coupled together in Matrimony, hy God's Laiv, or the Laws of tins Eealm ; and icill he hound, 
and sufficient sureties loitli him, to the parties : or else put in a Caution {to the full value of siich 
cliarges as the persons to he rnarritd do therehy sustain] to prove his allegation : then the solemni- 
zation must he deferred, uutd such time as the truth he tried. 

^[ If no impediment he alledged, then shall the Curate say unto the Man; 

M. TT'TILT thou have this AYoman to thy wedded wife, to live together 
V? after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt 
thou love her, comfort her, honour, and keep her in sickness and in health ; 
and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall 
live? 

% The Man slicdl answer, 

I will. 

% Then shall the Priest say unto the Woman, 

N. . TTy^ILT thou have this Man to thy wedded husband, to live together 
» T after God's ordinance in tlie holy estate of Matrimony ? Wilt 
thou obey liim, and serve him, love, honour, and keep him in sickness and 
^431 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATEIMONY. 



in health ; and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye 
both shall live ? 

^ The Woman sliall answer, 

I will. 

^ Tlien- shall the Minister saij. 

Who giveth this Woman to be married to this Man ? 

^ TJien shaJl they give their troth to each other in this manner. The Minister, receiving the Woman 
at her father's or friend's hands, shall cause the Man icith his right hand to take the Woman hy 
her right hand, and say after him as foUoweth. 

IM. take thee N. to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day 
forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in 
health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy 
ordinance ; and thereto I plight thee my troth. 

^ Then shall they loose their hands : and the Woman, icith her right hand talcing the Man hy his 
right hand, sliall lihev-ise say after the Minister, 

IN. take thee M. to my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this 
day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and 
in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part, according to 
God's holy ordinance ; and thereto I give thee my troth. 

^ Then shall they again loose their hands ; and the Man shall give unto the Woman aBing, laying 
the same upon the hook loith the accustomed duty to the Priest and Clerk. And the Priest, taking 
the Ring, shall deliver it unto the Man, to put it upon the fourth finger of the Woman's left hand. 
And. the Man holding the Ring there, and taught hy the Priest, shall say, 

WITH this King I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all 
my worldly goods I thee endow : In the Name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

^ Then the Man leaving the Ring upon the fourth finger of the Woman s left hand, they shall both 
kneel down : and the Minister shall say. 

Let US pray. 

OETEKNAL God, Creator and Preserver of all mankind. Giver of all 
spiritual grace, the Author of everlasting life ; Send thy blessing 
upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless in thy 
Name ; that, as Isaac and Eebecca lived faithfuHy together, so these persons 
may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, 
(whereof this ring given and received is a token and pledge,) and may ever 
remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy laws ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

% Tlien shall the Priest join their right hands together, and say. 

Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asimder. 

^ Then shall the Minister speak unto the people. 

FOEASMUCH as M. and N. have consented together in holy wedlock, 
and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto 
have given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the same 
432 



SOLEMIs^IZATION OF MATEIMONY. 



by giving and receiving of a Bing, and by joining of bands, I pronounce tbat 
tbey be Man and Wife togetber, In tbe name of tbe Fatber , and of tbe Son, 
and of tbe Holy Grbost. Amen. 

■ - 5[ ^nd the Minister shall add this Blessing. 

GOD tbe Fatber, God tbe Son, Grod tbe Holy Grbost, bless, preserve, and 
keep you ; tbe Lord mercifully witb bis favour look upon you ; and so 
fill you witb all spiritual benediction and grace, tbat ye may so live togetber 
in tbis life, tbat in tbe world to come ye may bave life everlasting. Amen. 

% Then the Minister or Clerhs, going to the Lord's Tahle, shcdl say or sing this Fsahn following. 

Beati omnes. Psal. cxxviii. 

BLESSED are all tbey tbat fear tbe Lord : and walk in bis ways. 
For tbou sbalt eat tbe labom^ of tbine bands : well is tbee, and bappy 
sbalt tbou be. 

Tby wife sball be as tbe fruitfal vine : upon tbe walls of tbine bouse ; 

Tby cbildren like tbe obve-brancbes : round about tby table. 

Lo, tbus sball tbe man be blessed : tbat fearetb tbe Lord. 

Tbe Lord from out of Sion sball so bless tbee : tbat tbou sbalt see Jerusa- 
lem in prosperity all tby life long ; 

Yea, tbat tbou sbalt see tby cbildren's cbildren : and peace upon Israel. 

Glory be to tbe Fatber, and to tbe Son : and to tbe Holy Gbost ; 

As it was in tbe beginning, is now, and ever sball be : world witbout end. 
Amen. 

f Or this Psalm. 
Bens misereatur. Psal. Ixvii. 

GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us : and sbew us tbe ligbt of bis 
countenance, "and be merciful unto us. 
Tbat tby way may be known upon eartb : tby saving bealtb among all 
nations. 

Let tbe people praise tbee, God : yea, let all tbe people praise tbee. 

let tbe nations rejoice and be glad : for tbou sbalt judge tbe folk rigb- 
teously, and govern tbe nations upon eartb. 

Let tbe people praise tbee, God : yea, let all tbe people praise tbee. 

Tben sball tbe eartb bring fortb ber increase : and God, even oui' own God, 
sbaU give us bis blessing. 

God sball bless us : and all tbe ends of tbe world sball fear bim. 

Glory be to tbe Fatber, and to tbe Son : and to tbe Holy Gbost ; 

As it was in tbe begmning, h now, and ever sball be : world witbout end. 
Amen. 

f The Psalm ended, and the Man and the Woman Jmeeling he/ore the Lord's Table, the Priest 
standing at the Table, and turning his face towards them, shall say, 

Lord, bave mercy upon us. 
Ansiver. Cbrist, bave mercy upon us. 
Minister. Lord, bave mercv upon us. 

433 ^ 3k 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATEIMONY. 



OUE Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give ns 
this day om* daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us 
from evil. Amen. 



Minister. Lord, save thy servant, and thy handmaid ; 

Answer. Who put their trust in thee. 

Minister. Lord, send them help from thy holy place ; 

Ansiver. And evermore defend them. 

Minister. Be unto them a tower of strength, 

Ansiver. From the face of their enemy. 

Minister. Lord, hear our prayer. 

Ansiver. And let our cry come unto thee. 



Minister. 

OGOD of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, bless these thy ser- 
vants, and sow the seed of eternal Hfe in their hearts ; that whatsoever 
in thy holy Word they shall profitably learn, they may in deed fulfil the 
same. Look, Lord, mercifully upon them from heaven, and bless them. 
And as thou didst send thy blessing upon Abraham and Sarah, to their great 
comfort, so vouchsafe to send thy blessing upon these thy servants ; that they, 
obeying thy will, and alway being in safety under thy protection, may abide 
in thy love unto their lives' end ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

T[ This Prayer next following shall be omitted, where the Woman is past child-hearing. 

MERCIFUL Lord, and heavenly Father, by whose gracious gift man- 
kind is mcreased; We beseech thee, assist with thy blessing these 
two persons, that they may both be fruitful in procreation of children, and 
also live together so long in godly love and honesty, that they may see their 
children christianly and virtuously brought up, to thy praise and honour; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

OGOD, who by thy mighty power hast made all things of nothing ; who 
also (after other things set in order) didst appoint, that out of man 
(created after thine own image and simihtude) woman should take her be- 
ginning; and, knitting them together, didst teach that it should never be 
lawful to put asunder those whom thou by Matrimony hadst made one : 
God, who hast consecrated the state of Matrimony to such an excellent 
mystery, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual marriage and 
unity betwixt Christ and his Church; Look mercifully upon these thy 
servants, that both this man may love his wife, according to thy Word, 
(as Christ did love his spouse the Church, who gave himself for it, lovmg 
and cherishing it even as his own flesh,) and also that this woman may be 
loving and amiable, faithful and obedient to her husband; and in all quiet- 
434 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATEIMONY. 



ness, sobriety, and peace, be a follower of holy and godly matrons. Lord, 
bless them both, and grant them to inherit thy everlasting kingdom ; through 
Jesus Christ oui* Lord. Amen. 

*[[ Then shall the Priest say, 

ALMIGrHTY Grod, who at the beginning did create our first joarents, 
Adam and Eye, and did sanctify and join them together in marriage ; 
Pour upon you the riches of his grace, sanctify and bless you, that ye may 
please him both in body and soul, and live together in holy love unto your 
Hves' end. Amen. 

After ichich, if there he no Sermon declaring the duties of Man and Wife, tlte Minister shall read 

as foUoweth. 

ALL ye that are married, or that intend to take the holy estate of Matri- 
mony upon you, hear what the holy Scripture doth say as touching the 
duty of husbands towards their wives, and wives towards their husbands. 

Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, the fifth Chapter, doth give 
this commandment to all married men ; Husbands, love your wives, even as 
Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify 
and cleanse it wdth the washing of water, by the Word ; that he might 
present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
such thing ; but that it should be holy, and without blemish. So ought 
men to love then- wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth 
himself: for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and 
cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church : for we are members of his 
body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his 
father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife ; and they two shall be 
one flesh. This is a great mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and the 
Chm'ch. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, 
even as himself. 

Likewise the same Saint Paul, ^^iting to the Colossians, speaketh thus to 
aU men that are married ; Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter 
against them. 

Hear also what Saint Peter, the Apostle of Christ, who was himself a 
married man, saith unto them that are married ; Ye husbands, dwell with 
your wives according to knowledge ; giving honour unto the wife, as unto 
the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your 
prayers be not hindered. 

Hitherto ye have heard the duty of the husband toward the wife. Now 
likewise, ye wives, hear and learn your duties toward your husbands, even as 
it is plainly set forth in holy Scripture. 

Saint Paul, in the aforenamed Epistle to the Ephesians, teacheth you 
thus; Wives, submit yourselves unto j^our own husbands, as unto the Lord. 
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the 
Church : and he is the Saviour of the body. Therefore as the Church is 
435 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MATEIMONY. 



subject iTiito Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 
And again he saith, Let the ^Yi^e see that she reverence her husband. 

And in his Epistle to the Colossians, Saint Paul giveth you this short 
lesson ; Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the 
Lord. 

Saint Peter also doth instruct you very well, thus saying ; Ye wives, be in 
subjection to your own husbands ; that, if any obey not the Word, they also 
may without the Word be won by the conversation of the -svives ; while they 
behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning, let it 
not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or 
of putting on of apparel ; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that 
which is not corruptible ; even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 
which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the 
old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being 
in subjection unto their ovm husbands ; even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, 
calling him lord ; whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well, and are not 
afraid with any amazement. 

^ It is convenient that the new-married persons should receive the holy Communion at the time of 
their marriage, or at the first oijpoiiunity after their Marriage. 



NOTE. 

As the Gospel itself has respect to all the relations of life, so the Church, by which it is preaclied 
to the world, and which ought to watch over its members with parental care, has authority to 
confirm with Divine sanctions the unions which nature and reason have previously justified. In 
all ages of the world, and in countries where scarcely any other restraint upon the lowest passions 
of men exist, rehgion has been appealed to as necessary to the confirmation of conjugal vows. 
But under every system established by the law of God, this has been a subject of particular atten- 
tion ; and the Gospel, as the most directly intended to secure tlie interests of holiness and the 
happiness of mankind, has led to a proportionable degree of care in this matter, so important to 
the welfare of our race. The early Christians made it a law, that when parties had proposed 
to become united in marriage, they should acquaint the ministers of the Chureh.with their design. 
Thus Ignatius says, " that it becomes those who marry, and those who are given in marriage, to 
enter upon this state with the consent of the bishop, that tlie marriage may be according to God, 
and not according to unholiness." And, "How can I describe," says Tertullian, " the happiness 
of that marriage which the Church allows and the oblation confirms ? Which angels proclaim as 
signed and the Father as ratified ?" This intimation, which the early Church required respecting 
intended marriages, answers to the notice, and the publication of banns, at present demanded in 
our owTi; both being alike justified by prudence and religion. The whole of the service is now 
performed at the altar ; but formerly the joining of hands, and the chief part of the ceremony, 
took place at the entrance of the church. 

The exhortations respecting the due consideration of the objects for which marriage was 
ordained, and the danger of entering upon it while there is some known impediment to its just 
celebration, form a becoming introduction to the ceremony ; and, together with the questions 
and answers following, occupy the place of the ancient service of espousals. This in former times 
was perfonned some weeks or months, and sometimes two years, before the marriage. The 
ceremonies obseived were similar to those which now enter into our complete service, and the 
breach of the engagement was visited with heavy censures and penalties. But the experience 
of antiquity was not sufficiently in favour of this custom to preserve it long in the Christian Church. 
The two services, therefore, became blended into one ; and it is a melancholy trifling with 
happiness and religion, when the serious nature of the admonitions, and of the inquiry which 

436 



NOTE ON SOLEMNIZATION OF MATEIMONY. 



precede tlie actual maniage, is not duly weiglied. Peace of heart— all the prospects of the 
present life, and, perhaps, those of eternity, may be depending on the religious feeling with 
which the promises here set down are made. The Church is in this instance the especial 
guardian of botli private and public happiness — of the rights of both sexes — of the affections of 
the heart— and of the noblest ends of existence. 

" ^ Then sliall tlie Minister say. Who giveth," &c. 

It is here, strictly speaking, that the rite of marriage commences ; and it has been the general 
custom of all ages for the woman to be given away by her father, or some one representing 
him. According to the spiritual nature of the service, the woman is received by the minister of 
the Church, and by him bestowed on the man, who in accepting her declares both his inalienable 
right to her as a possession, and the duty which that claim involves. The man in like manner 
resigns himself to the Church, and is then given to the woman, who also receives him as her own. 
and professes her knowledge of the principles on which she is " to have and to hold him." 

The giving of a ring at marriage prevailed among the ancient heathens, as well as J ews and 
Christians. It is supposed to have originally signified the dowry which the husband had engaged 
to pay, and, as rings had usually a seal upon them, it is also supposed to have indicated the admis- 
sion of the wife to a full participation of the husband's rights and property. Several allegorical 
meanings have been subsequently added, but these appear to have been the first intentions of the 
use of the ring in marriage. The fourth finger is named in the Eubric, because it was formerly 
supposed that a vein ran from that finger to the heart, a notion now sufficiently exploded, but not 
without a moral which it would be always well to retain. By the words with which the giving of 
the ring is accompanied, the man enters into a most solemn covenant. " With my body I thee 
worship," that is, honour, for which word the former, considered ambiguous even at that time, was 
to have been changed at the Kestoration. " And with all my worldly goods, I thee endow." In 
former times, the husband at these words presented the wife with gold and silver, but the giving 
of the ring may be considered as sufficiently significant of the investing of her with a claim on his 
property. The whole of this solemn contract is sealed by an appeal to the adorable and Almighty 
Trinity, by a devout prayer for the heavenly blessing, and a solemn proclamation to the Church 
and to the world at large, tliat tlie union is completed. 

Custom has led to an abridgment of the service equally injudicious and unjustifiable. Till late 
times, the newly-married persons received the Communion before the close of the service, but now 
the service itself is scarcely allowed to be finished. It ought to be deeply impressed on the minds 
of parties about to enter into an engagement which Gods blessing alone can render permanently 
prosperous, that the more earnestly they seek His tlivour, the better they secure their happiness 
both in this world and the next. 




437 



THE OEDER FOE 



THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 




1 When any person is sick, notice shall he given thereof to the Minister of the Farish ; iclio, coming 
into the sick person's house, shall say, 

Peace be to this house, and all that dwell in it. 

^ When he corneth into the sick mail's presence he shall say, kneeling doicn, 

REMEMBEE not, Lord, our iniquities, nor the iniquities of our fore- 
fathers : Spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast 
redeemed with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever. 
Ansicer. Spare us, good Lord. 

^ Then the Minister si tail say,- 

Let us pray. 

Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Christ, have niercy iqwn lis. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 
438 



THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



OUR. Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us 
from evil. Amen. 

Minister. Lord, save thy servant ; 
Ansicer. AVhich putteth his trust in thee. 
Minister. Send him help fi'om thy holy place ; 
Answer. And evermore mightily defend him. 
Minister. Let the enemy have no advantage of him ; 
Answer. Nor the wicked approach to hm't him. 
Minister. Be unto him, Lord, a strong tower, 
Ansiver. From the face of his enemy. 
Minister. Lord, hear our prayers. 
Ansiver. And let our cry come unto thee. 

Minister, 

OLOED, look down from heaven, behold, visit, and relieve this thy 
servant. Look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy, give him comfort 
and sure confidence in thee, defend him from the danger of the enemy, and 
keep him in perpetual peace and safety ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

HEAE us. Almighty and most merciful God and Saviour ; extend thy 
accustomed goodness to this thy servant who is grieved with sickness. 
Sanctify, we beseech thee, this thy fatherly correction to him ; that the sense 
of his weakness may add strength to his faith and seriousness to his repent- 
ance : That, if it shall be thy good pleasure to restore him to his former 
health, he may lead the residue of his life in thy fear, and to thy glory : or 
else, give him grace so to take thy visitation, that, after this painful life ended, 
he may dwell with thee in life everlasting ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

^ Tlien shall the Minister exhort the sick ijerson after this form, or other lilce. 

DExiELY beloved, know this, that Almighty God is the Lord of Life and 
death, and of all things to them pertaining, as youth, strength, health, 
age, weakness, and sickness. Wherefore, whatsoever your sickness is, know 
you certainly, that it is God's visitation. And for what cause soever this 
sickness is sent unto you ; whether it be to try your patience for the example 
of others, and that your faith may be found in the day of the Lord laudable, 
glorious, and honom^able, to the increase of glory and endless felicity ; or 
else it be sent unto you to correct and amend in you whatsoever doth offend 
the eyes of your heavenly Father ; know you certainly, that if you truly 
repent you of your sins, and bear yom^ sickness patiently, trusting in God's 
mercy, for his dear Son Jesas Christ's sake, and render unto him humble 
thanks for his fatherly ^dsitation, submitting yourself wholly unto his will, it 
shaU turn to your profit, and help you forward in the right way that leadeth 
unto everlasting life. 
439 



THE YISITATIOX OF THE SICK. 

If the 2'>sr$on visited he very sick, then tlie Curate may end his exhortation in this ]jlace, or else 

proceed. 

TAKE therefore in good part the chastisement of the Lord : Tor (as Saint 
Paul saith in the twelfth Chapter to the Hebrews) whom the Lord 
loveth he chasteneth, and sconrgeth eveiy son whom he receiveth. If ye 
endure chastenins:. G-od dealeth with tou as with sons : for what son is he 
whom the Father chasteneth not ? But h ye be without chastisement, whereof 
aU are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. FuithermorO; we have 
had fathers of our flesh, which coiTected us, and we gave them reverence : 
shaU we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of sphits, and hve ? 
For they yerily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasui^e ; but he 
for our profit, that we might be partakers of his hohness. These words, good 
hrother, are written in holy Scriptui'e for oin- comfort and instruction ; that 
we should patiently, and with thanksgiving, bear our heavenly Father's 
correction, whensoever by any manner of adversity it shall please his gracious 
goodness to yisit us. And there should be no gi^eater comfort to Christian 
persons, than to be made like imto Christ, by suiiering patiently adversities, 
troubles, and sicknesses. For he himself went not up to joy, but fii'st he 
suffered pain ; he entered not into his gloiy before he was crucified. So 
truly om' way to eternal joy is to sufier here with Christ ; and om^ door to 
enter into eternal life is gladly to die with Christ : that we may rise again 
fi'om death, and dwell with him in everlasting life. Xow therefore, taking 
youi' sickness, which is thus profitable for you. patiently, I exhoit you, in the 
Name of God, to remember the proiession which you made imto God in 
your Baptism. And forasmuch as after this hie there is an accoimt to be 
giren unto the righteous Jud^re, by whom all must be judged, without respect 
of persons, I requir^e you to examine yom'seK and your estate, both toward 
God and man : so that, accusing and condemning yo;;r--lf ror roin own faults, 
you may find mercy at om^ heavenly Father's hand f jr Cnrisi's sake, and not 
be accused and condemned in that fearr'ul judgement. Tnerdore I shaU 
rehearse to you the Articles of oui' Faith, that you may know whether you 
do beheve as a Christian man should, or no. 

^ Sere the Jlinister shall rehearse the Articles of the Faith, saying thus, 




OST thou beheve in God the Father Almighty. 3Laker of heaven and 
earth ? 



And in Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son our Lord ? And that he was 
conceiTed by the Holy Ghost, bom of the Yhgm 3Iaiy ; that he suflered 
under Pontius Pilate, was ciucified, dead and buried : that he went down into 
helL, and also did rise again the thu'd day ; that he ascended into heaven, and 
sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; and from thence shall 
come again at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the dead ? 

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost ; the holy Catholick Chm'ch : the 
Communion of Saints ; the Piemission of sins ; the EesurTection of the Flesh ; 
and everlasting life after death ? 

^ The sicJ: jyerson shall ansicer. 

All thi:^ I sted&stly l:>elieye. 
4-in 



THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



^ Tlien shall the Minister examine ichetlier he repent him truly of his sins, and he in charity with 
all the ivorlcl ; exhorting him to forgive, from the hottom of his heart, all persons tTtat have 
offended him; and if he hath offended any other, to ash them forgiveness ; and where he hath 
done injury or wrong to any man, that he mahe amends to the uttermost of his poiaer. And if he 
hath not before disposed of his goods, let him then be admonished to make his Will, and to de- 
clare his Debts, what he oiveth, and what is oiving unto him ; for the better discharging of his con- 
science, and the quietness of his Execidors. But men shoidd often be pid in remembrance to take 
order for the settling of their temporal estates, ivhilst they are in health. 

^ These woi'ds before rehearsed may be said before the Minister begin his Prayer, as he shall see 
cause. 

^ The Minister should not omit earnestly to move such side persons as are of ability to be liberal to 
the poor. 

% Here shall the sick person he moved to maJce a special Confession of his sins, if he feel his con- 
science troubled with any iceighty matter. After which Corfession, the Priest shall absolve him 
{if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort. 

OUE Lord Jesus Christ, who liatli left power to his Church to absolve all 
sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive 
thee thine offences : And by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee 
from all thy sins, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

^ And then the Priest shall say the Collect folloiving. 

Let us pray. 

OMOST merciful God, who, according to the multitude of thy mercies, 
dost so put away the sins of those who truly repent, that thou remem- 
berest them no more ; Open thine eye of mercy upon this thy servant, who 
most earnestly desireth pardon and forgiveness. Eenew in Mm, most loving 
Father, whatsoever hath been decayed by the fraud and mahce of the devil, 
or by his own carnal will and frailness; preserve and continue this sick 
member in the unity of the Church ; consider his contrition, accept his tears, 
asswage his pain, as shall seem to thee most expedient for him. And foras- 
much as he putteth his full trust only in thy mercy, impute not unto Am his 
foimer sins, but strengthen him with thy blessed Spirit ; and, when thou art 
pleased to take him hence, take him unto thy favour, through the merits of 
thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Ame^i. 

f Then shall the Minister say this Psalm. 
In te, Domine, spercwi. Psal. Ixxi. 
TN thee, Lord, have I put my trust ; let me never be put to confusion : 
J- but rid me, and deliver me in thy righteousness ; incline thine ear unto 
me, and save me. 

Be thou my strong hold, whereunto I may alway resort : thou hast promised 
to help me ; for thou art my house of defence, and my castle. 

Deliver me, my God, out of the hand of the ungodly : out of the hand 
of the unrighteous and cruel man. 

For thou, Lord God, art the thing that I long for : thou art my hope, 
even from my youth. 

Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born : thou art he 
that took me out of my mother's womb ; my praise shall alway be of thee. 

I am become as it were a monster unto many : but my sure trust is in 
thee. 

441 3 L 



THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



let my montli be filled with thy praise : that I may sing of thy glory 
and honour all the day long. 

Cast me not away in the time of age : forsake me not when my strength 
faileth me. 

For mine enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul 
take their counsel together, saying : God hath forsaken him, persecute him, 
and take him ; for there is none to deliver him. 

Gro not far from me, Grod : my God, haste thee to help me. 

Let them be confounded and perish that are against my soul : let them be 
covered with shame and dishonour that seek to do me evil. 

As for me, I will patiently abide alway : and will praise thee more and 
more. 

My mouth shall daily speak of thy righteousness and salvation : for I 
know no end thereof. 

1 will go forth in the strength of the Lord God : and will make mention 
of thy righteousness only. 

Thou, God, hast taught me from my youth up until now : therefore will 
I tell of thy wondrous works. 

Forsake me not, God, in mine old age, when I am gray-headed : until 
I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to all them 
that are yet for to come. 

Thy righteousness, God, is very high, and great things are they that 
thou hast done : God, who is like unto thee ? 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. 
Amen. 

% Adding tlds. 

OSAYIOUE of the world, who by thy Cross and precious Blood hast 
redeemed us, Save us, and help us, we humbly beseech thee, Lord. 

^ Then shall the Minister say, 

THE Almighty Lord, who is a most strong tower to all them that put 
their trust in him, to whom all things in heaven, in earth, and under 
the earth, do bow and obey, be now and evermore thy defence ; and make 
thee know and feel, that there is none other name under heaven given to 
man, in whom,, and through whom, thou mayest receive health and salvation, 
but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

^ And after that shall say, 

UNTO God's gracious mercy and protection we commit thee. The 
Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine 
upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance 
upon thee, and give thee peace, both now and evermore. Amen. 

A Frayer for a sick child. 

ALMIGHTY God, and merciful Father, to whom alone belong the 
issues of life and death ; Look down from heaven, we humbly beseech 
442 



THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



thee, with the eyes of mercy upon this child now lying upon the bed of 
sickness: Visit Mm, Lord, with thy salvation; deliver Mm in thy good 
appointed time from Ms bodily pain, and save Ms soul for thy mercies' sake : 
That, if it shall be thy pleasure to prolong Ms days here on earth, he may 
live to thee, and be an instrument of thy glory, by serving thee faithfully, 
and doing good in Ms generation ; or else receive Mm into those heavenly 
habitations, where the souls of them that sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy per- 
petual rest and felicity. Grant this, Lord, for thy mercies' sake, in the 
same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and 
the Holy G-host, ever one Grod, world without end. Amen. 

A Prayer for a sich person, ivJien there apj)eareth small hope of recovery. 

OFATHEE of mercies, and God of all comfort, our only help in time 
of need ; We fly unto thee for succour in behalf of this thy servant, 
here lying under thy hand in great weakness of body. Look graciously upon 
him, Lord ; and the more the outward man decayeth, strengthen Mm, we 
beseech thee, so much the more continually with thy grace and holy Spirit 
in the inner man. Give him unfeigned repentance for all the errors of his 
life past, and stedfast faith in thy Son Jesus ; that his sins may be done away 
by thy mercy, and his pardon sealed in heaven, before he go hence, and be 
no more seen. We know, Lord, that there is no word impossible with 
thee ; and that, if thou wilt, thou canst even yet raise him up, and grant him 
a longer continuance amongst us : Yet, forasmuch as in all appearance the 
time of his dissolution draweth near, so fit and prepare him, we beseech thee, 
against the hour of death, that after Ms departure hence in peace, and in thy 
favour, his soul may be received into thine everlasting kingdom, through the 
merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thine only Son, our Lord and Saviour. 
Amen. 

A commendatory Prayer for a sich i^erson at the point of departure. 

ALMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spirits of just men made 
perfect, after they are delivered from their earthly prisons ; We 
humbly commend the soul of this thy servant, our dear brother, into thy 
hands, as into the hands of a faithful Creator, and most merciful Saviour ; 
most humbly beseeching thee, that it may be precious in thy sight. Wash 
it, we pray thee, in the blood of that immaculate Lamb, that was slain to 
take away the sins of the world ; that whatsoever defilements it may have 
contracted in the midst of this miserable and naughty world, through the 
lusts of the flesh, or the wiles of Satan, being purged and done away, it may 
be presented pure and without spot before thee. And teach us who survive, 
in this and other like daily spectacles of mortality, to see how frail and un- 
certain our own condition is ; and so to number our days, that we may 
seriously apply our hearts to that holy and heavenly wisdom, whilst we live 
here, which may in the end bring us to life everlasting, through the merits 
of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord. Amen. 
443 



THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



A Frayerfor ^persons troubled in mind or in conscience. 

BLESSED Lord, tlie Father of mercies, and the God of all comforts ; 
We beseech thee, look down in pity and compassion upon this thy 
afflicted servant. Thou writest bitter things against Mm, and makest Mm to 
possess Ms former iniquities ; thy wrath lieth hard upon Mm, and Ms soul is 
fiill of trouble : But, merciful God, who hast written thy holy Word for 
our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of thy holy Scriptures, 
might have hope ; give M^n a right understanding of Mmself, and of thy 
threats and promises ; that he may neither cast away Ms confidence in thee, 
nor place it any where but in thee. Give Mm strength against all Ms temp- 
tations, and heal all Ms distempers. Break not the bruised reed, nor quench 
the smoking flax. Shut not up thy tender mercies in displeasure ; but make 
Mm to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may 
rejoice. Deliver Mm from fear of the enemy, and hft up the light of thy 
countenance upon Mm, and give Mm peace, through the merits and mediation 
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK. 

% Forasmuch as all mortal men be subject to many sudden perils, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever 
uncertain what time they shall depart out of this life ; therefore, to the intent they may be always 
in a readiness to die, lohensoever it shall please Almighty God to call them, the Curates shall 
diliqently from time to time (but especially in the time of pestilence, or other infectious sickness) 
exhort their Parishioners to the often receiving of the holy Communion of the Body and Blood of 
our Saviour Christ, lohen it shall be publickly administered in the Church ; that so doing, they 
may in case of sudden visitation, have the less cause to be disquieted for lack of the same. But tf 
the sick person be not able to come to the Church, and yet is desirous to receive the Communion 
in his house ; then he must give timely notice to the Curate, signifying also how many there are to 
communicate with him, (which shall be three, or two at the least,) and having a convenient place 
in the sick mans house, with all things necessary so prepared, that the Curate may rev&rentkj 
minister, he shall there celebrate the holy Communion, beginning with the Collect, Epistle, and 
Gospel, here following . 

The Collect 

ALMIGHTY, everliving God, Maker of mankind, who dost correct those 
whom thou dost love, and chastise every one whom thou dost receive ; 
We beseech thee to have mercy upon this thy servant visited with thine hand, 
and to grant that he may take Ms sickness patiently, and recover Ms bodily 
health, (if it be thy gracious will;) and whensoever /ws soul shall depart 
from the body, it may be without spot presented unto thee; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Epistle. Heb. xii. 5. 

MY son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou 
art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth ; and 
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

The Gospel. St. John v. 24. 
T7EKILY, verily I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and beheveth 
V on him that sent me, hath everlasting hfe, and shall not come into 
condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life. 
444 



THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK. 



After which the Friesi shall proceed according to the form before prescribed for the holy Com- 
munion, beginning at these ivords [Ye that do truly, (fee] 

At the time of the distribution of the holy Sacrament, the Priest shall first receive the Communion 
himself, and after minister unto them that are appointed to communicate with the sick, and last 
of all to the side person. 

But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sichness, orforuant ofwctrningin due time to the 
Curate or for lach of company to receive with him, or by any other just impedinient, do not 
receive the Sacrament of Chr ises Body and Blood, the Curate shall instruct htm, that ^/ he do truly 
repent himofhis sins, and stedfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered deat^i upon the Cross 
for him, and shed his Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, 
and qTvinghim hearty thaJs therefore, he doth eat and drink the Bo<^j and Blood of our Saviour 
Christ profitably to his Soul's health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his momh. 
When the sick person is visited, and receiveththe holy Communion all at one time, then the Priest, 
for more expedition, shall cut off the form of the Visitation at the Psalm [In tliee, O Lord, lia^e 
I put roy trast, tfec] and go straight to the Communion. 

In the time of the Plaque, Sweat, or such other like contagious times of sickness or diseases, when 
none of the Parish or neighbours can be gotten to communicate imth the sick m their houses, for 
fear of the infection, upon special request of the diseased, the Minister may only communicate 



loith him. 



NOTE ON THE OEDEE FOE THE VISITATION OF THE SICK AND THE 
COMMUNION OF THE SICK. 

If relio-ion be professed with any degree of earnestness, its supports and consolations will naturally 
be souo-ht for in seasons of calamity. The love of God is a fountain of health- PIis name is & 
strong tower ; and when the heart is fainting under the weight of bodily aflaictions, to what source 
of comfort can it tm-n, with so confident an expectation of relief, as to the mercy of the Almighty 
Father ' There are, moreover, the positive invitations of Jesus Christ. Himself a man of sorrows, 
and acquainted with grief. He says, " Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and 
I will refresh you." The appellation of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter has a sigmfication ol 
wide extent, and the balm of His grace is sufiScient to give ease, whatever be the nature of the 
sorrows under which we grieve. n m 

It is the direction of St. James that if any be sick he should call for the elders of the Church. 
In all ages it has been regarded by thoughtful persons as no less a privilege than a duty to obey 
this injunction. The visitation of the sick, therefore, is an important part of ministerial engage- 
ments, and the present ofEice.was provided by the compilers of the Liturgy as an aid to the per- 
formance of this important duty. Though considered by many as defective, it is not wanting m 
the chief characters which should distinguish such a service. Our reformers, however, wisely 
judging that particular cases might occur in which the minister had better be left to his own dis- 
cretion° gave liberty to those who are licensed preachers to follow such a method as they may deem 
best suited to the condition of the person visited. 

In the first edition of the Liturgy the 143rd Psalm was inserted before the supplications, but 
was left out in the next. The prayers and exhortations breathe a most devout and affectionate 
spirit, and the rehearsal of the Apostles' Creed, that pure summary of evangelical truth, fixes the 
mind on the firm foundations of heavenly knowledge. " Without faith it is impossible to please 
God;" " By grace are ye saved through faith ;" and, " Being justified by faith, we have peace 
with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." If the sick person, therefore, can with earnestness 
and sincerity declare his faith in the Gospel, the way is open to the throne of grace, and all the 
blessings which attend Divine peace. 

The declaration of faith is followed by an inquiry highly necessary in most instances to the 
comfort of the sick man's mind, and to the efficacy of his prayers, but the manner of conducting 
which must depend greatly upon the circumstances, character, and disposition of the individual. 
It is to consist, however, of particulars to which every man, whatever be his condition, is bound to 
give heed, if he would make due preparation for appearing at the throne of Christ. A particular 
confession of sins is often of great use, and, if the heart, after it has tlms disburthened itself, seeks 
for further consolation, the minister is authorized to pronounce its absolution, and to declare it free 
from the penalties of its transgressions. As the form here inserted is expressed in strong and 
direct language, it is a question whether anything more be meant than an absolution from those 
offences which the church has power to punish, and the penalties of which, therefore, it may 
remit. That it ought to be viewed in this manner seems indicated by the prayer which follows, 

445 



NOTE ON THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



in which the penitent still entreats God to pardon him, as one who can only be actually absolved 
from his iniquities by the Majesty of Heaven. The expression, however, " I absolve thee from 
all thy sins," is so comprehensive that it can scarcely be reconciled with this interpretation. 
The subject is, therefore, one of doubt and difficulty, but the interpretation must, at all events, 
be that given to the words in which our Lord told His disciples that, what they should bind or 
luiloose on earth, should be bound or unloosed in heaven. (Matth. xvi. 19.) 

This form of absolution was originally directed to be used in all private confessions, but in the 
review of the first edition of the Liturgy the order was modified, and a sentence was inserted in 
the Eubric, intimating that the absolution was only to be pronounced when the sick person 
" humbly and heartily desired it." The 71st Psalm is found in offices for the Visitation of the 
Sick wherever used. In the first edition of the Liturgy the Eubric directed that the sick person 
might be anointed with oil if he desired. As this was an observance which, though ancient, had 
led to many superstitions, and could only be traced to the particular customs of eastern countries, 
it was discontinued, as many other trifling usages had been, at the instigation of the Swiss 
Eefornier, Martin Bucer. 

The administration of the Communion in private houses is only allowed from a great sense of 
the importance of the Sacrament to the health of men's souls. Sickness alone authorizes this 
departure from the general directions of the canons. The permission to receive it, therefore, 
ought to be regarded as a privilege. At the same time, let no one suppose that, if the heart be 
not sanctified by repentance and faith, the ordinance will avail to salvation. 




446 



THE OEDEE FOB 



THE BUEIAL OF THE DEAD. 




^ Here is to he noted, that the Office enming is not to he used for any that die unhaptized, or excom- 
municate, or have laid violent hands upon themselves. 

The Priest and Clerhs meeting the Corpse at the entrance of the Church-yard, and going hefm-e it, 
either into the Church, or towards the Grave, shall say, or sing, 

I AM tlie resurrection and tlie life, saith the Lord : he that beheveth in 
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and 
believeth in me shall never die. St. John xi. 25, 26. 

I KNOW that my Eedeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter 
day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this 
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and 
mine eyes shall behold, and not another. Job xix. 25, 26, 27. 

WE brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing 
out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the 
Name of the Lord. 1 Tim. vi. 7. Jot i. 21. 
447 



AT THE BUEIAL OF THE DEAD. 



After they are come into the Church, shall he read one or both of these Psalms following. 

Dixi, Citstocliam. Psal. xxxix. 

I SAID, I will take heed to my ways : that I offend not in my tongue. 
I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle : while the ungodly is in 
my sight. 

I held my tongue, and spake nothing : I kept silence, yea, even from good 
words ; but it was pain and grief to me. 

My heart was hot within me, and while I was thus musing the fire kindled : 
and at the last I spake with my tongue ; 

Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days : that I may be 
certified how long I have to live. 

Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long : and mine age is 
even as nothing in respect of thee ; and verily every man living is altogether 
vanity. 

For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain : he 
heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. 

And now, Lord, what is my hope : truly my hope is even in thee. 

Deliver me from all mine offences : and make me not a rebuke unto the 
foolish. 

I became dumb, and opened not my mouth : for it was thy doing. 
Take thy plague away from me : I am even consumed by means of thy 
heavy hand. 

When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty 
to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment : every man there- 
fore is but vanity. 

Hear my prayer, Lord, and with thine ears consider my calling : hold 
not thy peace at my tears. 

For I am a stranger with thee : and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. 

spare me a little, that I may recover my strength : before I go hence, 
and be no more seen. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. 
ximen. 

Domine, refugium. Psal. xc. 

LOED, thou hast been our refuge : from one generation to another. 
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the 
world were made : thou art God from everlasting, and world without end. 

Thou tmnest man to destruction : again thou sayest. Come again, ye 
children of men. 

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday : seeing that is past 
as a watch in the niG:ht. 

As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even as a sleep : and fade away 
suddenly like the grass. 

In the morning it is green, and groweth up : but in the evening it is cut 
down, dried up, and withered. 
448 



AT THE BUEIAL OF THE DEAD. 



For we consume away in thy displeasure : and are afraid at thy wrathful 
indignation. 

Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee : and our secret sins in the light 
of thy countenance. 

For when thou art angry all our days are gone : we bring our years to an 
end, as it were a tale that is told. 

The days of our age are threescore years and ten ; and though men be so 
strong, that they come to fourscore years : yet is their strength then but 
labour and sorrow ; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone. 

But who regardeth the power of thy wrath : for even thereafter as a man 
feareth, so is thy displeasure. 

teach us to number our days : that we may apply our hearts unto 
wisdom. 

Turn thee again, Lord, at the last : and be gracious unto thy servants. 

satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon : so shall we rejoice and be 
glad all the days of our life. 

Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us : and for 
the years wherein we have suffered adversity. 

Shew thy servants thy work : and their children thy glory. 

And the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us : prosper thou 
the work of our hands upon us, prosper thou our handy- work. 

Grlory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. 
Amen. 

1[ Then shall follow the Lesson taken out of the fifteenth Chapter of the former Epistle of Saint Paul 

to the Corinthians. 

1 Cor. XV. 20. 

NOW is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them 
that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the 
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
all be made alive. But every man in his own order : Christ the first-fruits ; 
afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father ; 
when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he 
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that 
shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But 
when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, 
which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued 
unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all 
things under him, that God may be all in all. Else what shall they do which 
are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? Why are they then 
baptized for the dead ? and why stand we in jeopardy every hour ? I protest 
by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If 
after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advan- 
tageth it me, if the dead rise not ? Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we 
die. Be not deceived : evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake 
449 ^ 3 M 



AT THE BUEIAL OF THE DEAD. 



to rigliteoiisness, and sin not ; for some have not the knowledge of God. I 
speak this to your shame. But some man will say, How are the dead raised 
np ? and mth what body do they come ? Thou fool, that which thou sowest 
is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest 
not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of 
some other gram : But God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased him, and to 
every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh ; but there is one 
kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of 
bh'ds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial ; but the glory 
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is 
one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars ; for one star difiereth from another star in glory. So also is the resur- 
rection of the dead : It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in mcorruption : It 
is so^^TL in dishonour ] it is raised in glory : It is sown in weakness ; it is 
raised m power : It is sown a natm-al body ; it is raised a spiritual body. 
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, 
The first man Adam was made a living soul ; the last Adam was made a 
quickening spii^it. Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that 
which is natm-al ; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the 
earth, earthy : the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, 
such are they that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they also that 
are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also 
bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit incor- 
ruption. Behold I shew you a mystery : We shall not all sleep, but we shall 
aU be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, 
(for the trumpet shall sound,) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal must put on immortahty. So when this corruptible shall have 
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality ; then shall 
be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in 
victory. death, where is thy stmg ? grave, where is thy victory ? The 
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to 
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, mimoveable, always abounding in the 
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labom" is not in vain in 
the Lord. 

^ When they come to the Grave, while the Corpse is made ready to he laid into the earth, the Priest 
shall say, or the Priest and Clerks shall sing : 

11 TAN that is born of a woman hath but a short time to Hve, and is full of 
1*-!- misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower ; he fleeth as 
it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. 

In the midst of life we are in death : of whom may we seek for succour, 
but of thee, Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased ? 

Yet, Lord God most holy, Lord most mighty, holy and most 
merciful Saviour, dehver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death 
450 



AT THE BLTJAL OF THE DEAD. 



Tlioii kuowest, Lord, the secrets of oiu^ hearts ; sliut not tliy mercifd ears 
to oui- prayer ; but spare us, Lord most holy, Grod most mighty, holy 
and merciful Sayiour, thou most Tv'orthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our 
last hom^, for any pains of death, to fall from thee. 

% Tlien ichile tlie earth sliall he cast upon the Body ly some standing ly, the Priest shall say, 

rOEASMrCH as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to 
take unto himseK the soul of om- dear Ir other here departed, we there- 
fore commit his body to the ground ; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
dust ; in sure and certain hope of the Eesurrection to eternal hfe. through 
oui- Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change oui' vile body, that it may be like 
unto his glorious body, accordmg to the mighty working, whereby he is able 
to subdue all things to himself. 

1 Then shall he said or sung, 

IHEAED a voice from heaven, saying unto me, ^rite. From henceforth 
blessed are the dead which die in the Lord : even so saith the Spirit ; 
for they rest from their labom^s. 

^ Hien the Priest shall say, 

Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Christ, have raercy ujjon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

OLE Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy Xame. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us om' trespasses, As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But dehver us 
from evil. Amen. 

Priest. 

i LMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spuits of them that depart 
hence m the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they 
are dehvered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity ; ^Te give 
thee- hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased thee to dehver this our hrother 
out of the miseries of this sinful world ; beseeching thee, that it may please 
thee, of thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine 
elect, and to hasten thy kingdom ; that we, with all those that are departed 
m the true faith of thy holy Xame, may have om^ perfect consimimation 
and bhss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory; 
thi'ough Jesus Christ oiu' Lord. Amen. 

The Colled. 

OMEECIFEL God, the Father of om Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
resurrection and the hfe ; in whom whosoever beheveth shall hve, 
though he die; and whosoever liveth, and believeth in him, shall not die 
eternally ; who also hath taught us, by his holy Apostle Saint Paul, not to 



AT THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 



be sorry, as men without hope, for them that sleep iu hun ; We meekly 
beseech thee, Father, to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of 
righteousness ; that, when we shall depart this life, we may rest in him, as 
om* hope is this our hrotJier doth ; and that, at the general Eesurrection in 
the last day, we may be found acceptable in thy sight ; and receive that 
blessing which thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love 
and fear thee, saying, Come, ye blessed children of my Father, receive the 
kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world : Grant this, we 
beseech thee, merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, om^ Mediator and 
Eedeemer. Amen. 




'HE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellow- 
ship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen. 



NOTE. 

FcNF.KAL rites have formed a part of the religious services of all ages and nations, Nature and 
religion unite in prompting mankind to pay this respect to the remains of the dead. Among the 
ancient heathens, funeral ceremonies were performed with the most costly splendour. The Jews 
paid the most solemn respect to the departed, committing the body to the tomb with long pro- 
cessions and every display of sorrow. To be deprived of sepulture was regarded as the height of 
misfortune (Psalm Ixxix. 2 ; Jer. xsxvi. 80), and to see it performed with becoming pomp and 
solemnity a mark of the greatest affection. (Gen. xxiii. 3, 4, 7.) The respect paid to the body 
of om- crucified Lord was imitated by the early Christians in the care with whick they sought 
the remains of martyred saints, and committed them to the grave, assembling around the place 
of sepulture in considerable numbers, and uniting in solemn prayer and praise to the Author of 
their faith. In the services first used, the principal feature was psalmody. To this was usually 
added a discourse referring to the life and character of the deceased, the reading of some appro- 
priate portion of Scripture, and occasionally the Communion. Other observances were gradually 
introduced, and with them many superstitions. The office of our own Church is decent, edifying, 
and pathetic. The only objections which can be made to it owe their whole force to the dege- 
neracy of the times. When Christians paid due regard to the holiness of their calling, and 
discipline came to the assistance of example, every word of this service had its applicability and 
pathos. But now that so many bear the name, who are known to live in open enmity to God, and 
whose deaths are unattended with any sign of sphitual repentance, the indiscriminate or unmodified 
use of this service has often been considered by thoughtful-minded men as of doubtful propriety. 
The prohibitions of the Eubric are a defence against the more obvious inconsistencies : but now 
that excommunication is almost unknown as a part of Church discipline, the persons who, when 
this office was compiled, would have been regarded as separated from Communion, and, therefore, 
not entitled to the privileges and honours which it bestows, are confounded with the most spiritual, 
and spoken of in the same language. These objections, however, rest chiefly on two or three short 
passages in the service ; and as the expressions alluded to are only rendered objectionable by the 
decline of discipline, the real value and excellence of the office itself admit of no dispute. 

As faith, is the victory which overcometh sorrows of every kind, as well as the world, the 
triumphs of Jesus Chi'ist over death are announced at the beginning of the service. The expec- 
tation of His approach has been the comfort of holy men in all ages ; and they who now own His 
sway, feel w^hen they hear his words that it is not for them to sorrow as men without hope. The 
Psalms which follow are pathetic and supplicatory. In the first edition of the Litm-gy, the 116th, 
139th, and 146th were used. They were left out in the next edition, and no others inserted till 
the Kestoration, The sublime discom-se of St, Paul on the mystery of the resurrection is so 
animating — so noble in its appeals to both faith and reason, that it can hardly fail to inspire 
the most sorrowful heart with hope. 

In the fijst edition of the Litm-gy, supplications for the dead followed the lesson, and similar 
prayers were inserted in other parts of the service, but thty were exjDunged in the revised edition. 

Originally tlie whole of the service was performed in the open air; but as this often subjected 

452 



NOTE ON THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 



the persons attending to great inconvenience, it was thought better to have the former part read in 
the church. The service at the grave begins very appropriately with admonitions to the mourners 
to remember the universal mortality of man. These are followed by a solemn consigmng of the 
body to its parent earth, and that by a sim.]3le usage of very ancient origm. But this also is 
accompanied with a declaration of fervent hope ; and the prayers which succeed teach the hearts 
of all present to place their ti'ust in the power of Christ — to look forward to the days of refresh- 
ment and restoration — to keep themselves in the purifying communion of the Holy Spirit, that 
they may surely follow their departed brother to the blessed abodes which they trust he has 
already entered. 

Thus there is a tone of earnest joy in the whole of this beautiful and sublime service. Thanks 
are rendered to God for His having removed the departed from this world of sin and sorrow. The 
heart is awakened to the voice from heaven, declaring the blessedness of them that die in the 
Lord ; and it responds to the call by prajang that the Almighty may shortly accomphsh, or com- 
plete, the number of His chosen people, and hasten the longed-for glories of His kingdom. This 
cheerful spirit characterised all the ancient funeral services. "Precious," it was remembered, 
"ia the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints ;" and St. Chrysostom therefore says, "What 
mean our hymns ? Do we not glorify God, and give Him thanks, that He hath crowned him that 
i; departed, — that He hath dehvered him from trouble, — that He hath set him free from all fear ? ' 
But how evident it is, that, if we would thus convert the day of sorrow into a season of triumph, 
and express ourselves in the language of thankfulness and hope, it ought to be our constant effort 
to secure the diffusion of pure Christianity, — ^to imbue those we love with its living truths, — to 
di-ink deep of its truths ourselves, so that, whether we mourn, or are mourned over, the movements- 
of natural grief may speedily give way, — ^not to the distractions of the world, nor to a presump- 
tuous and ill-founded expectation of safety, but to the conscious possession of Divine peace. 




453 



THE 

THANKSGIYING OF WOMEN AFTEE CHILD-BIKTH, 

COMMONLY CALLED, 

THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN. 



t TJie Woman, at the usual time after her Belivenj, shall come into the Church decently apparelled, 
and there shall hneel down in some convenient place, as hath been accustomed, or as the Ordinary 
shall direct : And then the Priest shall say unto her, 

FOExiSMUCH as it liatli pleased Almiglity God of Ms goodness to give 
you safe deliverance, and liatb. ^^reserved you in the great danger of 
Cliild-birtli ; you sliall therefore give hearty thanks unto God, and say, 

{% Then shall the Priest say the cx\ith Psalm.) 
Dilexi quoniam. 

I AM well pleased : that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer ; 
That he hath inclined his ear unto me : therefore will I call upon him 
as long as I live. 

The snares of death compassed me round about : and the pains of hell gat 
hold upon me. 

I found trouble and heaviness, and I called upon the Name of the Lord : 
Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous : yea, our God is merciful. 

The Lord preserveth the simple : I was in misery, and he helped me. 

Turn again then unto thy rest, my soul : for the Lord hath rewarded 
thee. 

And why ? thou hast delivered my soul fi'om death : mine eyes from tears, 
and my feet from falling. 

I will walk before the Lord : in the land of the Hving. 

I behoved, and therefore will I speak ; but I was sore troubled : I said in 
my haste, All men are hars. 

What reward shall I give unto the Lord : for all the benefits that he hath 
done unto me ? . 

I will receive the cup of salvation : and call upon the name of the Lord. 
I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people : in the courts of 
the Lord's house, even in the midst of thee, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. 
Glory be to the Father, ^c. 
As it was in the beginning, ^c. 

Or, Psal. cxxvii. Nis-i Dominus. 

EXCEPT the Lord build the house : their labom^ is but lost that 
build it. 

Except the Lord keep the city : the watchman waketh but in vain. 
It is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, 
and eat the bread of carefulness : for so he giveth his beloved sleep. 
454 



THE CHUECHINa OF WOMEN. 



Lo, children and the fruit of the womb : are an heritage and gift that 
Cometh of the Lord. 

Like as the arrows in the hand of the giant : even so are the young children. 

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them : they shall not be 
ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. 

Glory be to the Father, ^c. 

As it was in the beginning, ^f'c. 

^ Then the Priest shall say, 

Let US pray. 

Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Christ, have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

OUE Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give us this 
day om- daily bread. And forgive us om- trespasses. As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us 
from evil : For thine is the kingdom. The power, and the glory^ For ever 
and ever. Amen. 

Minister. Lord, save this woman thy servant ; 

Ansiver. Who putteth her trust in thee. 

Minister. Be thou to her a strong tower ; 

Ansiver. From the face of her enemy. 

Minister. Lord, hear our prayer. 

Ansicer. And let our cry come unto thee. 

Minister. Let us pray. 

ALMIGHTY God, we give thee humble thanks for that thou hast 
vouchsafed to deliver this woman thy servant from the great pain and 
peril of Child-birth ; Grant, we beseech thee, most merciful Father, that 
she, through thy help, may both faithfully live, and walk according to thy 
mil, in this life present ; and also may be partaker of everlastmg glory in 
the hfe to come ; through Jesus Christ om- Lord. Amen. 

^ The Woman, that cometh to give her Thanhs, must offer accustomed Offerings ; and, if there he a 
Communion, it is convenient that she receive the holy Communion. 



NOTE. 

This Office is commonly regarded as answering to tlie rite of purification in the ceremonies of tlie 
Law. But sucli a view of it is neither con-ect nor necessary. It is simply a service of thanks- 
giving, and contains no allusion to any of the analogies even which might be discovered between 
the two rites. The Greek Church favoured the notion of its answering to the Jewish ordinance by 
api^ointing the woman to appear in the Church the fortieth day after her delivery. It was called 
" The Purification " in the old English service-books before the Eeformation ; and in the fiLi'st 
edition of the Liturgy the office was entitled " The Order of the Purification of Women." 

The arguments for the devout performance of this service are obvious to the least thoughtful 
minds. If we owe deliverance from danger — the recovery of health and strength after sickness — 

455 



NOTE ON THE CHUECHING OE WOMEN. 



to God's mercy, it is to His house we ought to direct our steps with the first efforts of our strength, 
and there make om- offerings of praise in the j)resence of His Church. Tlieonly sacrifice He asks 
is this. He is full of tenderness ; and He rejoices in tlie thanksgivings of the daughters of His 
people. The Church is edified by their example of gratitude. It derives a new theme of thank- 
fulness from their deliverance, thus openly ascribed to Divine mercy, and it blesses and sanctifies 
them with its prayers. Private ehurchings are the invention of modern times, and manifest both 
ignorance of the nature of the service, and want of Christian piety and earnestness. 

In the first edition of the Liturgy, the woman was directed to appear covered with a white veil, 
and to kneel " in some convenient place, nigh unto the Quire door ;" or " nigh unto the place where 
tlie Table standeth." The short address to her is weighty, and well calculated to direct attention 
to the duty which she owes to God. In the last edition of the Liturgy the present Psalms v/ere 
introduced in place of the 121st and 128th, which had for many ages formed part of the service. 
The supplications, or short Litany, following, and the concluding prayer, are such as every humble 
and thankful mind may gladly join in at the throne of grace. 

According to ancient custom the woman was directed by the Kubric, in the first edition of the 
Litiu-gy, to " offer her chrisom, and other accustomed offerings," at the close of the service. The 
chiisom was the white garment pirt upon the infant at baptism, and for this purpose was laid up 
in the Chm-ch to be ready for the christening. When the use of the chrisom ceased, which it did 
soon after the publication of the Liturgy, the Eubric was altered to the form in which it now 
stands. 




456 



A COMMINATTON, 



OR DENOUNCING OF GOD'S ANGER AND JUDGEMENTS AGAINST SINNERS, 

WIIH CERTAIN PRAYERS, TO BE USED ON THE FIRST DAY OF LENT, AND AT 
OTHER TIMES, AS THE ORDINARY SHALL APPOINT. 



^ Aftei- Morning Prmjer, the Litany ended according to the accustomed manner, the Priest shall, in 

the Beading-Pew or Pulpit, say, 

BKETHEEN, in the Primitive Church there was a godly disciphne, 
that, at the beginning of Lent, such persons as stood convicted of 
notorious sin were put to open penance, and punished in this world, that 
their souls might be saved in the day of the Lord ; and that others, admo- 
nished by their example, might be the more afraid to offend. 

Instead whereof, (until the said discipline may be restored again^ which is 
much to be wished,) it is thought good, that at this time (in the presence of 
you all) should be read the general sentences of Grod's cursing against impe- 
nitent sinners, gathered out of the seven and twentieth Chapter of Deute- 
ronomy, and other places of Scripture ; and that ye should answer to every 
Sentence, Amen : To the intent that, being admonished of the great indig- 
nation of G-od against sinners, ye may the rather be moved to earnest and 
true repentance ; and may walk more warily in these dangerous days ; fleeing 
from such vices, for which ye affirm with your own mouths the curse of God 
to be due. 

CUESED is the man that maketh any carved or molten image, to 
worship it. 

^ And the people shall answer and say. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that curseth his father or mother. 
Answer. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that removeth his neighbour's land-mark. 
Answer. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that maketh the blind to go out of his way. 
Answer. Anien. 

Minister. Cursed is he that perverteth the judgement of the stranger, the 
fatherless, and widow. 
Answer. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. 
Ansiver. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that lieth with his neighbour's wife. 
Answer. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that taketh reward to slay the innocent. 
Answer. Amen. 

Minister. Cursed is he that putteth liis trust in man, and taketh man for 
his defence, and in his heart goeth from the Lord. 
Answer. Amen. 

457 ^ 3 N 



A COMMINATIOK. 



Minister. Cursed are the luimercifiil, fornicators, and adulterers, covetous 
persons, idolaters, slanderers^ drunkards, and extortioners. 
Ansicer. Amen. 

Minister. 

NOW seeing that all they are accursed (as the prophet David beareth 
witness) who do err and go astray from the commandments of God ; 
let us (remembering the dreadful judgement hanging over our heads, and 
always ready to fall upon us) return unto our Lord God, with all contrition 
and meekness of heart ; bewailing and lamenting our sinful hfe, acknow- 
ledging and confessing om- offences, and seeking to bring forth worthy fruits 
of penance. For now is the ax put unto the root of the trees, so that every 
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God : he shall pour 
down rain upon the sinners, snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest ; 
this shall be then- portion to drink. For lo, the Lord is come out of his 
place to visit the wickedness of such as dwell upon the earth. But who 
may abide the day of his coming ? Who shall be able to endm^e when he 
appeareth ? His fan is in his hand, and he will pm^ge his floor, and gather 
his wheat into the barn ; but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. 
The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night : and when men shall 
say. Peace, and all things are safe, then shall sudden destruction come upon 
them, as sorrow cometh upon a woman travailing with child, and they shall 
not escape. Then shall appear the wrath of God in the day of vengeance, 
which obstinate sinners, through the stubbornness of their heart, have heaped 
unto themselves ; which despised the goodness, patience, and long-sufferance 
of God, when he calleth them continually to repentance. Then shall they 
call upon me, (saith the Lord.) but I will not hear ; they shall seek me 
early, but they shall not find me ; and that, because they hated knowledge, 
and received not the fear of the Lord, but abhorred my counsel, and despised 
my correction. Then shall it be too late to knock when the door shall be 
shut ; and too late to cry for mercy when it is the time of justice. ter- 
rible voice of most just judgement, which shall be pronounced upon them, 
when it shall be said unto them, Go, ye cursed, into the fire everlasting, 
which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Therefore, brethren, take 
we heed betim'e, while the day of salvation lasteth ; for the night cometh, 
when none can work. But let us, while we have the light, believe in the 
light, and walk as children of the light ; that we be not cast into utter 
darkness, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let us not abuse the 
goodness of God, who calleth us mercifully to amendment, and of his- endless 
pity promiseth us forgiveness of that .which is past, if with a perfect and true 
heart we return unto him. For though our sins be as red as scarlet, they 
shall be made white as snow ; and though they be hke purple, yet they shall 
be made white as wool. Turn ye (saith the Lord) from all yom- wicked- 
ness, and your sin shall not be your destruction : Cast away from you all 
yom- urigodhness that ye have done: Make you new hearts, and a new 
spirit : Wherefore will ye die, ye house of Israel, seeing that I have no 
4.58 



A COMMINATION. 



pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Grod ? Turn ye 
then, and ye shall live. Although we have sinned, yet have we an Advocate 
with the Father, Jesus Chiist the righteous ; and he is the propitiation for 
our sins. For he was wounded for our offences, and smitten for om* wicked- 
ness. Let us therefore retm^n unto him, who is the merciful receiver of all 
true penitent sinners ; assuring ourselves that he is ready to receive us, and 
most willing to pardon us, if we come unto him with faithful repentance ; if 
we submit ourselves unto him, and from henceforth walk in his ways ; if we 
will take his easy yoke, and Hght burden upon us, to follow him in lowliness, 
j)atience, and charity, and be ordered by the governance of his Holy Spirit ; 
seeking always his glory, and serving him duly in om' vocation with thanks- 
giving : This if we do, Christ will deliver us from the curse of the law, and 
from the extreme malediction which shall light upon them that shall be set 
on the left hand; and he vvull set us on his right hand, and give us the 
gracious benediction of his Father, commanding us to take possession of his 
glorious kingdom : Unto which he vouchsafe to bring us all, for his infinite 
mercy. Amen. 

T[ Then shall they all kneel upon their knees, and the Priest and Clerks kneeling {in the place 
u-here they are accustomed to say the Litany^ shall say this Psalm. 

Miserere mei, Deus. Psal. li. 

HAYE mercy upon me, G-od, after thy great goodness : according to 
the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. 
Wash me throughly from my wickedness : and cleanse me .from my sin. 
For I acknowledge my faults : and my sin is ever before me. 
Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight : that thou 
mightest be justified in thy saying, and clear when thou art judged. 

Behold, I was shapen in wickedness : and in sin hath my mother con- 
ceived me. 

But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts : and shalt make me to 
understand wisdom secretly. 

Thou shalt pm^ge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : thou shalt wash 
me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness : that the bones which thou 
hast broken may rejoice. 

Turn thy face away from my sins : and put out all my misdeeds. 

Make me a clean heart, God : and renew a right spirit within me. 

Cast me not away from thy presence : and take not thy holy Spirit 
from me. 

give me the comfort of thy help again : and stablish me with thy free 
Spirit. 

Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked : and sinners shall be con- 
verted unto thee. 

Dehver me from blood-guiltiness, God, thou that art the God of my 
health : and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness. 

Thou shalt open my lips, Lord : and my mouth shall shew thy praise. 
459 



A COMMINATION. 



For thoii desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee : but thou delight- 
est not in biu'nt-offerings. 

The sacrifice of God is a troubled sjohit : a broken and contrite heart, 
God, shaft thou not despise. 

be favoiu'able and gracious unto Sion : build thou the walls of Jeru- 
salem. 

Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with the 
bui-nt-ofierings and oblations : then shall they offer young bullocks upon 
thine altar. 

Glory be to the Father, ^c. 

Answer. As it was in the beginning, ^c. 

Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Christ, have mercy ujjon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

OTE Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy king- 
dom come. Thy wiU be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us om^ trespasses. As we forgive them 
that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us 
from evil. Amen. 

Minister. Lord, save thy servants ; 
Answer. That put their trust in thee. 
Minister. Send unto them help from above. 
Ansicer. And evermore mightily defend them. 
Minister. Help us, God our Saviom*. 

Answer. And for the glory of thy Name dehver us ; be merciful to us 
sinners, for thy Name's sake. 

Minister. Lord, hear our prayer. 
Answer. And let om" cry come unto thee. 

Minister. Let us pray. 

OLOKD, we beseech thee, mercifully hear our prayers, and spare all 
those who confess their sins unto thee ; that they, whose consciences 
by sin are accused, by thy merciful pardon may be absolved ; through Christ 
om^ Lord. Amen. 

OMOST mighty God, and merciful Father, who hast compassion upon 
all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made ; who wouldest not 
the death of a sinner, but that he should rather turn from his sin, and be 
saved ; Mercifully forgive us om^ trespasses ; receive and comfort us, who are 
grieved and wearied with the burden of our sins. Thy property is always to 
have mercy ; to thee only it appertaineth to forgive sins. Spare us there- 
fore, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed ; enter not 
into judgement Avith thy servants, who are vile earth, and miserable sinners ; 
but so turn thine anger from us, who meekly acknowledge our idleness, and 
truly repent us of our faults, and so make haste to help us in this world, 
460 . . 



A COMMINATION. 



that we may ever live with thee in the world to come ; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. 

^ Tlien sliall the people say this tliat followeth, after the Minister. 

TUEN thou us, good Lord, and so shall we be turned. Be favour- 
able, Lord, Be favourable to thy people, Who turn to thee in 
weeping, fasting, and praying. For thou art a merciful God, full of com- 
passion. Long-suffering, and of great pity. Thou sparest when we deserve 
punishment, And in thy wrath thinkest upon mercy. Spare thy people, 
good Lord, spare them, And let not thine heritage be brought to confusion. 
Hear us, Lord, for thy mercy is great, And after the multitude of thy 
mercies look upon us ; Through the merits and mediation of thy blessed 
Son, Jesus Christ om^ Lord. Amen. 

^ TJien the Minister alone shall say, 




iHE Lord bless us, and keep us ; the Lord lift up the light of his coun- 
tenance upon us, and give us peace, now and for evermore. A7nen. 



NOTE. 

The discipline of the early Ohurcli was founded on the most necessary and obvious principles 
of Christian purity. A society had been formed which owed its existence to the call of the 
Gospel, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It was tlie proper duty of this society to endeavour to 
impart its knowledge and maxims to the world at large, and to draw within its bosom as many 
as were prepared to obey the Spirit which gave it life. But as those who joined it would be 
distinguished by various degrees of strength and holiness, and as the very imperfection of liuman 
nature itself would still leave them open to temptation, the Church was obliged, from the first, 
to institute a system of discipline, which should enable it to reprove the careless, to correct the 
erring, and expel the obstinate offender from its communion. 

Such was the value set upon the blessings of Church communion in former times, that the 
chastisements inflicted for sin were usually submitted to with deep humility. The penitent 
thankfully accepted the offer of restoration on any terms ; and thus the Church was enabled to 
repress the wantonness of error, and by a salutary severity preserve to its children the invaluable 
advantages of a holy, consistent, and tranquil character. As sin is a scandal to the Christian 
profession, it was rightly judged that he who had dishonoured the Church, ought in the presence 
of the Church to confess his error. In the early ages penitents were admitted publicly to their 
course of penance on the first day of Lent. They appeared barefoot, and clothed in sackcloth, at 
the door of the Church. There they were received by the clergy, who gave them directions respect- 
ing their duty in their present state of humiliation, and as to what was demanded of them by the 
Church. They were then brought hito the aisle, where the seven penitential psalms were repeated ; 
and the bishop, having laid his hands upon them, sprinkled them with water, and put ashes on 
their heads, directed them to be expelled the Church, as Adam was driven out of paradise. 

With the decline of primitive simplicity and earnestness, these things degenerated into useless 
forms, or were changed for indulgences which might be purcliased by all who could command 
sufficient money for the purpose. The corruption of the world at large favoured every step in the 
decline of discii3line ; and our reformers saw how vain it would be to attempt the restoration of a 
system which could only have force under the almost universal revival of faith, and evangelical 
piety. But, not to leave sinners unwarned by the solemn denunciations of the Church, they 
introduced this form of Commination, desiring thereby to inspire that terror of the divine law 
which may be followed by a saving repentance. 

The use of this form was originally confined to Ash- Wednesday, but according to the present 
Rubric it may be read at any time appointed by the Ordinary, In pronouncing the curses of the 

461 



NOTE ON COMMINATION. 



law upon the offenders named in the denunciations, the Churcli does nothing more than declare 
their state. It does not pray that tlie sinner may be cursed, but merely states that he is so. Nor 
do the peoi^le confirm a curse when they say " Amen," but simply acknowledge the truth of what 
has been stated, and which, must be true, if both the Law and the Gospel be not false. The fol- 
lowing address, with the accompanying prayer, is strikingly pathetic, as well as most edifying. 
It brings to the alarmed and penitent sinner the merciful tidings, the good message, that the way 
to peace is open to him, and that, however dark and multiplied his offences, however fearful the 
denunciations against them, they will all be pardoned, if he humble himself before the throne of 
grace. This service, therefore, which at the fii'st view seems to delight only in the awful severity 
of the law, is in reality a ministration of mercy, and one in which they who utter the sentences 
of heavenly wi-ath are taking a part, as confessing sinners entreating for mercy, and not as judges 
of their fellow-men. The concluding blessing, which is taken from Numbers vi. 24, was not 
added till the last Keview. 




462 



INTEODUCTOEY NOTE 

TO THE 

PSALMS OF DAVID. 



The use of these divine compositions in the service of the Church is as old as the Church itself. 
Christians found them a sort of liturgy ready formed for their purpose, admirably adapted to 
their condition, and for the expression of their innermost sentiments and desires. Abounding- in 
spiritual delineations of the state of behevers in all periods of the Church, they afforded them 
comfort under the bitterest persecutions, and when times of tranquillity arrived, furnished them 
with songs of thanksgiving, which they gladly interwove with those of confession for sin, of prayers 
for grace, necessary in every period to the propriety of Christian worship. The Psalms were 
especially recommended to the first believers by the quotations made from them by Christ. They 
could, moreover, easily be committed to memory, and while they had the seal of inspiration, the 
authority of the law, the illumination of prophecy, upon tliem, they were the portion of Scripture 
with which a familiar acquaintance might most readily be obtained. Hence they formed the 
principal part of the ancient services, which, however much modified in subsequent periods, still 
retained the Psalms as the most important feature of public worship. 

It was by the example of the purest times, therefore, that the compilers of our Liturgy acted, 
when they established the daily use of the Psalms in the reformed Chiu-ch. The most spiritual 
minds rejoice at their introduction, as a means of keeping ahve the elevated piety of an apostolic 
era ; and those of a humbler degree of faith, when once awakened to inquiry, see that they are 
able to gather from them the most edifying precepts, examples the most affecting, and the most 
encouraging promises. 

The translation used in the Liturgy is that of Tyndal and Coverdale, as published in the Great 
English Bible. This version was revised by Archbishop Cranmer; and though of a more ancient 
date than that of the received translation of the Scriptures, is considered valuable for its elegance 
and general correctness. As in former times, the Psalms are to be repeated in alternate verses by 
the minister and the people. St. Ambrose, when comparing the Church to the sea, observes that, 
"from the responsories of the Psalms, and singing of men, women, virgins, and children, there 
results an harmonious noise, like the waves of the ocean." The ecclesiastical historian Theodoret 
says, that this mode of repeating the Psalms was introduced in the reign of the Emperor Con- 
stantino ; but the earlier historian, Eusebius, traces it to the age of the apostolic fathers. In the 
Greek Church the " Gloria " was repeated at the end of the last psalm only. The Koman Church 
followed this custom, but in the other Churches of the West it gradually became usual to repeat it 
at the close of every psalm. Anciently a great number of psalms were repeated in succession, and 
afterwards so many were appointed for each canonical hour. It was always left, however, to the 
bishop to name any particular psalm for remarkable occasions, and thus psalmody was made a part 
not only of the ordinary, but of every, service of the Church. The coldness with which this im- 
portant portion of public worship is at present performed, can only be attributed to a want of due 
consideration respecting the nature and meaning of the Psalms tliemselves. It is to be hoped, 
therefore, that in a day of reviving piety, the members of our national Church will endeavour to 
obtain that acquaintance with the interpretation of the Psalms, which will enable them thereby 
to make to their heavenly Father an acceptable offering of prayer and thanksgiving. The reader 
should likewise always bear in mind, that while he is praising God in the Psalms, he is also con- 
templating prophecies fulfilled in Christ and the Church ; and that as it is with mankind and the 
world, viewed in close relation to God's designs, that he has here to do, he will have the most 
necessary of all helps to the understanding of this part of revelation. 

465 3 



THE FIRST DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 




Psal. i, Beatus vir, qui non dbiit, ^c. 

LESSED is the man that hath not walked 
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in 
the way of sinners : and hath not sat in the 
seat of the scornful. 

2 But his delight is in the law of the 
Lord : and in his law will he exercise him- 
self day and night. 
And he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side : 
that will bring forth his fruit in due season. 
,^ 4 His leaf also shall not wither : and look, whatsoever he 
V doeth, it shall prosper. 

Psalm i. — This psalm may be regarded as an introduction to the whole book. It describes the 
blessedness of a holy life, and the miserable consequences of sin. This it does in the most striking 
and picturesque lan.guage, showing, first the negative, and then the positive virtues of the heirs 
of salvation. They take no part with the wicked, even in thought ;— they are not found on the 
broad path with them ;— they frequent not their assemblies,— they judge not where they judge. 
While they thus avoid every occasion of sin, their hearts are cheered and strengthened by the 
contemplation of heavenly truth. This occupies all the channels and faculties of their souls ; and 
thus their habitual state of being is that of genial thoughtfulness. In answer to their mental 
condition, as that of their general conduct. As their delight is in the law, so are they constantly 
exercised in tlie fulfilment of its precepts. The permanence and results of their existence corre- 
spond to the glory of the rule which they follow ; while tlie ungodly, with all their possessions 
and boasted means of pleasure, are swept away into everlasting darkness. 

466 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 1. 




5 As for the ungodly, it is not so with them : but they are like 
the chaff which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth. 

6 Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judge- 
ment : neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 

7 But the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous : and the way 
of the ungodly shall perish. 

Psal. ii. Quare freniuerunf gentes f 

HY do the heathen so furiously rage toge- 
ther : and why do the people imagine a 
vain thing ? 

2 The kings of the earth stand up, and 
the rulers take counsel together : against 
the Lord, and against his Anointed. 

3 Let us break their bonds asunder :- 
and cast away their cords from us. 

4 He that dwelleth in heaven shall 
laugh them to scorn : the Lord shall have them in derision. 

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath : and vex them in 
his sore displeasure. 

6 Yet have I set my King : upon my holy hill of Sion, 

7 I will preach the law, whereof the Lord hath said unto ine : 
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 

8 Desire of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inhe- 
ritance : and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. 

9 Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of iron : and break them in 
pieces like a potter's vessel. 

10 Be wise now^ therefore, ye kings : be learned, ye that are 
judges of the earth. 

11 Serve the Lord in fear : and rejoice unto him with reverence. 

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and so ye perish from the 
right way : if his wrath be kindled, (yea, but a little,) blessed are ail 
they that put their trust in him. 

Psalm n. — The application of this psalm (in Acts iv. 25; xiii. 33; and Heb. i. 5) to Jesus 
Christ plainly declares its prophetic character. In its literal sense, it represents David on the 
throne of Israel, proclaiming his trust in the power which placed him there, and in the strength of 
that faith defying the rage of his innumerable enemies. Its spiritual meaning sets Christ before 
us, — ruling in His kingdom — enthroned in the midst of His Church, on the Zion of the heavenly 
Jerusalem, but still exposed to the vain threats of the kings and nations of the earth. It is by the 
eternal decree of the Almighty that He reigns. Their blasphemous etforts, therefore, are vain. 
Persevered in, they can but end in the destruction of the offenders. Hence the concluding 
exhortation to the kings and judges of the earth ; hence the persuasive call to the world at large, 
"Kiss the Son, lest He be angry;" that is — seek His peace and favour as yom- appointed Lord, 
and vour all-sufficient Redeemer ! 

4f)7 



Ba,j\. 



THE PSALMS. 




Psal. iii. Domine, quid muUij)l{cat{ f 

OED, how are they increased that trouble 
me : many are they that rise against me. 

2 Many one there be that say of my 
soul : There is no help for him in his God. 

3 But thou, O Lord, art my defender : 
thou art my worship, and the lifter up of 
my head. 

4 I did call upon the Lord with my 
voice : and he heard me out of this holy hill. 

5 I laid me down and slept, and rose up again : for the Lord 
sustained me. 

6 I will not be afraid for ten thousands of the people : that have 
set themselves against me round about. 

7 Up, Lord, and help me, O my God : for thou smitest all mine 
enemies upon the cheek-bone ; thou hast broken the teeth of the 
ungodly. 

8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord : and thy blessing is upon 
thy people. 

Psal. iv. Cum invoearem. 

EAR me when I call, God of my righ- 
teousness : thou hast set me at liberty when 
I was in trouble ; have mercy upon me, and 
hearken unto my prayer. 

2 ye sons of men, how long will ye 
blaspheme mine honour : and have such 
pleasure in vanity, and seek after leasing ? 

3 Know this also, that the Lord hath 
chosen to himself the man that is godly : 

when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me. 

Psalm iii.— This psalm, wliich is generally supposed to have been composed by David when he 
fled from his rebelHous son, is spiritually descriptive of the Church when under persecution, 
or of the individual behever, hated and oppressed in the world for' his fidelity to God. The 
number of his enemies daily mcreases, but his faith enlarges with his dangers. The name of the 
Lord IS his strong tower, and he rests secure in the midst of his most desperate foes. Nor does 
he look for safety only from the arm of his Saviour : he knows that the time will come when 
salvation and blessing shaU crown the people of the Lord with everlasting glory. 

PsAL3i,R'.— The injustice of the world has ever made it the enemy of truth and holiness. 
Despised because they reprove its vices, and oppressed because they seem to offer an easy conquest, 
the faithful ser^-ants of God have in all ages stood exposed to its persevering malevolence. But 
they appeal from its cruelty and unjust decisions to Him whose most gracious title is that of the 
Justifier of His people. The Lord is their righteousness,— the free source of their hoHness ; a 
wilUng listener to their prayers,- a present help in the hour of dauger, and the fountain of life' 
4C8 




THE PSALMS. 



Dmj 1. 



4 Stand in awe, and sin not : commune with your own heart, and 
in your chamber, and be still. 

5 Ojffer the sacrijS.ce of righteousness : and put your trust in the 
Lord. 

6 There be many that say : Who will shew us any good ? 

7 Lord, lift thou up : the light of thy countenance upon us. 

8 Thou hast put gladness in my heart : since the time that their 
corn, and wine, and oil, increased. 

9 I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest : for it is thou^ 
Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety. 



Psal. V. Verba mea aurihus. 




ONDEE my words, Lord : consider my 
meditation. 

2 hearken thou unto the voice of my 
calling, my King, and my God : for unto 
thee will I make my prayer. 

3 My voice shalt thou hear betimes, O 
Lord : early in the morning will I direct 
my prayer unto thee^ and will look up. 

4 For thou art the God that hast no 
pleasure in wickedness : neither shall any evil dwell with thee. 

5 Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight : for thou hatest 
all them that work vanity. 

6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing : the Lord will 
abhor both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man. 

7 But as for me, I will come into thine house, even upon the 
multitude of thy mercy : and in thy fear will I worship toward thy 
holy temple. 

8 Lead me, Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine ene- 
mies : make thy way plain before my face. 

9 For there is no faithfulness in his mouth : their inward parts 
are very wickedness. 

10 Their throat is an open sepulchre : they flatter with their 
tongue. 

Psalm v. — This psalm, it is conjectured, was used by pious priests and Levites wlien worshipping 
in the inner court of the temple. It beautifully expresses those sentiments of earnest dehght which 
fill the souls of believers when holding communion with God. The prayer of faith is mingled 
with the voice of adoration ; and here, as in almost every one of these divine compositions, the 
hostility of the world is spoken of, and comfort is sought in heavenly mercy, as the only sufficient 
safeguard against the enemy. 

469 



Day 1. 



THE PSALMS. 



11 Destroy thou tliem, Grod ; let them perish through their 
own imaginations : cast them out in the multitude of their ungod- 
liness ; for they have rebelled against thee. 

12 And let all them that put their trust in thee rejoice : they 
shall ever be giving of tlianks, because thou defendest them ; they 
that love thy Name shall be joj^ful in thee ; 

13 For thou, Lord, wilt give thy blessing unto the righteous : 
and with thy favourable kindness wilt thou defend him as with a 
shield. 



EVENING PRAYER. 

Psal. Ti. Bomine, ne in furore. 

LOED, rebuke me not in thine indignation : 
neither chasten me in thy displeasure. 

2 Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I 
am weak : Lord, heal me, for my bones 
are vexed. 

3 My soul also is sore troubled : but, 
Lord, how long wilt thou punish me ? 

4 Turn thee, Lord, and dehver my 
soul : save me for thy mercy's sake. 

5 For in death no man remember etli 
thee : and who will give thee thanks in 
the pit ? 

6 I am weary of my groaning ; every 
and water my couch with my tears. 

7 My beauty is gone for very trouble : and worn away because of 
all mine enemies. 

8 Away from me, all ye thab work vanity : for the Lord hath 
heard the voice of my weeping. 

9 The Lord hath heard my petition : the Lord will receive my 
prayer. 

10 All mine enemies shall be confounded, and sore vexed : they 
shall be turned back, and put to shame suddenly. 

Psalm yi.— Tlie language of this psalm is that of deep affliction and repentance. It was 
probably composed by David when bowed down by sickness, or when his heart was stricken by the 
son-ow of recollected sins. The agony of ]iis soul, in itself awful, taught him to tremble at the 
prospect of a still more dreadful punishment. He cries, therefore, for mercy, and in the deptlis 
of his grief and suffering, feels that his prayer is heard. 

470 / 




night wash 1 my bed : 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 1. 



Psal. vii. Domine, Deus mens. 




LOED my God, in thee have I put my 
trust : save me from all them that perse- 
cute me, and deliver me ; 

2 Lest he devour my soul, like a lion, 
and tear it in pieces : while there is none 
to help. 

3 O Lord my Grod, if I have done any 
such thing : or if there be any wickedness 
in my hands ; 

4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that dealt friendly with me : 
yea, I have delivered him that without any cause is mine enemy ; 

5 Then let mine enemy persecute my soul, and take me : yea, 
let him tread my life down upon the earth, and lay mine honour 
in the dust. 

6 Stand up, Lord, in thy wrath, and lift up thyself, because of 
the indignation of mine enemies : arise up for me in the judgement 
that thou hast commanded. 

7 And so shall the congregation of the people come about thee : 
for their sakes therefore lift up thyself again. 

8 The Lord shall judge the people ; give sentence with me, O 
Lord : according to my righteousness, and according to the inno- 
cency that is in me. 

9 let the wickedness of the ungodly come to an end : but 
guide thou the just. 

10 For the righteous God : trieth the very hearts and reins. 

11 My help cometh of God : who preserveth them that are true 
of heart. 

12 God is a righteous Judge, strong, and patient : and God is 
provoked every day. 

13 If a man will not turn, he will whet his sword : he hath bent 
his bow, and made it ready. 

14 He hath prepared for him the instruments of death : he or- 
daineth his arrows against the persecutors. 



Psalm yii.— This psalm is supposed to have been composed by David when he fled from Saul, 
or from Absalom. He still cries for help to God, and declares his innocence of any crime against 
his cruel persecutors. If they repent not, the Divine anger is imprecated ; and, by a noble stroke 
of inspu-ed poetry, the unjust and daring sinner is represented as digging a pit for the faithful, 
while God, unseen, in the everlasting recesses of heaven, is whetting His sword and bendmg His 
bow to sweep away the ungodly from the earth. How forcible is the whole of this psalm when 
applied to the persecutions of our Lord ! ,,. . 

471 ^ - 



Daij 1. 



THE PSALMS. 



15 Behold, he tmvaileth with mischief : he hath conceived sor- 
row, and brought forth ungodliness. 

16 He hath graven and digged up a pit : and is fallen himself 
into the destruction that he made for other. 

17 For his travail shall come upon his own head : and his wick- 
edness shall fall on his own pate. 

18 1 will give thanks unto the Lord, according to his righteous- 
ness : and I will praise the Name of the Lord most High."^ 

Psal. viii. Bomine, Bominus nosier. 




V1i!^^^^^{l|i;i,^^ LOED our Governour, how excellent is 
thy Name in all the world : thou that hast 
set thy glory above the heavens ! 

2 Out of the mouth of very babes and 
sucklings hast thou ordained strength, be- 
cause of thine enemies : that thou mightest 
still the enemy, and the avenger. 

3 For I will consider thy heavens, even 
the works of thy fingers : the moon and 

the stars, which thou hast ordained. 

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him : and the son of 
man, that thou visitest him ? 

5 Thou madest him lower than the angels : to crown him with 
glory and worship. 

6 Thou makest him to have dominion of the works of thy hands : 
and thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet ; 

7 All sheep and oxen : yea, and the beasts of the field • 

8 The fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea : and whatsoever 
walketh through the paths of the seas. 

9 Lord our Governour : how excellent is thy Name in all the 
world ! 

Psalm Yin.-Tids psalm, which is one of those appointed for Ascension Day, is quoted in 
tTJ^' '\ f^P^°P^^*i«^lly describing the triumph of humanity in the glorification of Christ. 
i he Majesty of God is contemplated till the soul shrinks from the ever-increasing brightness of 
Z\Z'Z\ r^f'J-'' Possibihty of its being an object of regard to a Deity so awful 

nor fL 1 Power,~so far apart from this low and miserable world. Neither nature 

^li^^ ZX IvH^^r^^^ '''' ''''''' Christ it is spiritual and 

'™brv and bono T " I' ''''' ^-'^ b« d 

maniffstltinrnf r fr^Z^'S' " expectation of the creature waiteth for the 

vTwW, rr'ftt ™then.naturemustremainsubjecttovanity,tosin,anddeath; 

H "i^n l t T 1 ''1 ^'"^^ P^'^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ the uLerse will recove; 

It. primal beauty, and glory and worship shall be the meed of all who are found in the Saviour 



THE SECOND DAY 



MORNING PRAYER 




Confitehor tibi. 

WILL give thanks unto tliee, Lord, 
with my whole heart : I will speak of all 
thy marvellous works. 

2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee : 
yea, my songs will I make of thy Name, 
thou most Highest. 

3 While mine enemies are driven back : 
they shall Ml and perish at thy presence. 

U 4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause : thou 
y^ art set in the throne that judgest right. 

5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, and destroyed the un- 
godly : thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. 

6 thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end : even 

Psalm ix. — The prayers of God's people are never unanswered, nor are their enemies at any 
time allowed to prevail against them, except for the purposes of final good. Their souls are in 
His hand— tlieir cause is His ; and, when they triumph, they know it is by His power and good- 
ness that their adversaries have been obliged to retreat. The present and immediate success is 
but a sign of the Almighty's prevailing love. They learn from the particular instance the force 
of the everlasting rule. Hence their rejoicing in Him ;— their grand and lofty faitli that " de- 
structions are come to a perpetual end," and their comforting assurance that the I^ord will ever be 
a " defence for the oppressed, even a refuge in due time of trouble." But thanksgiving and songs 
of triumph must ever, in this state of things, be mingled with the consciousness that times of 
danger and difficulty will return. Tlie Psalmist, therefore, sets an example to the Church, and 
to every believer in Christ, to seek the Lord with prayers for mercy, even in the midst of success 
and happiness. 

473 ' 3 p 



Bay 2. 



THE PSALMS. 



as the cities wliich tliou liast destroyed ; their memorial is perished 
with them. 

7 But the Lord shall endm-e for ever : he hath also prepared his 
seat for judgement. 

8 Tor he shall judge the world in righteousness : and minister 
true judgement unto the people. 

9 The Lord also will be a defence for the oppressed : even a 
refuge in due time of trouble. 

10 And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee : 
for thou, Lord, hast never failed them that seek thee. 

11 praise the Lord which dwelleth in Sion : shew the people 
of his doings, 

12 For, when he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth 
them : and forgetteth not the complaint of the poor. 

13 Have mercy upon me, Lord; consider the trouble which I 
suffer of them that hate me : thou that liftest me up from the gates 
of death. 

14 That I may shew all thy praises within the ports of the 
daughter of Sion : I will rejoice in thy salvation. 

1 5 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made : in the 
same net which they hid privily, is their foot taken. 

16 The Lord is known to execute judgement : the ungodly is 
trapped in the work of his own hands. 

17 The wicked shall be turned into hell : and all the people that 
forget God. 

18 For the poor shaU not alway be forgotten : the patient abiding 
of the meek shall not perish for ever. 

19 Up, Lord, and let not man have the upper hand : let the 
heathen be judged in thy sight. 

20 Put them in fear, Lord : that the heathen may know them- 
selves to be but men. 

Psal. X. Ut quid, Domme f 

HY standest thou so far off, Lord : and 
hidest thy face in the needful time of 
trouble ? 

2 The ungodly for his own lust doth per- 
secute the poor : let them be taken in the 
crafty wiliness that they have imagined. 

3 For the ungodly hath made boast of 
his own heart's desire : and speaketh good 
of the covetous, whom God abhorreth. 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 2. 



4 The ungodly is so proud, that he careth not for Grod : neither 
is God in all his thoughts. 

5 His ways are alway grievous : thy judgements are far ahove 
out of his sight, and therefore defieth he all his enemies. 

9 For he hath said in his heart. Tush, I shall never be cast 
down : there shall no harm happen unto me. 

7 His mouth is full of cui'sing, deceit, and fraud : under his 
tongue is ungodliness and vanity. 

8 He sitteth lurking in the thievish corners of the streets : and 
privily in his lurking dens doth he murder the innocent ; his eyes 
are set against the poor. 

9 For he lieth waiting secretly, even as a lion lurketh he in his 
den : that he may ravish the poor. 

10 He doth ravish the poor : when he getteth him into his net. 

11 He falleth down, and humbleth himself : that the congrega-' 
tion of the poor may fall into the hands of his captains. 

12 He hath said in his heart. Tush, God hath forgotten : he 
hideth away his face, and he will never see it. 

13 Arise, Lord God, and lift up thine hand : forget not the poor. 

14 Wherefore should the wicked blaspheme God : while he doth 
say in his heart. Tush, thou God car est not for it. 

15 Surely thou hast seen it : for thou beholdest ungodliness and 
wrong. 

16 That thou mayest take the matter into thine hand : the poor 
committeth himself unto thee ; for thou art the helper of tlie friend- 
less. 

17 Break thou the power of the ungodly and malicious : take 
away his ungodliness, and thou shalt find none. 

18 The Lord is King for ever and ever : and the heathen are 
perished out of the land. 

19 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the poor : thou preparest 
their heart, and thine ear hearkeneth thereto ; 

20 To help the fatherless and poor unto their right : that the 
man of the earth be no more exalted against them. 

Psalm x. — How pathetic a moral is conveyed even by the arrangement of the Psalms, the song 
of triumph being so quickly succeeded by lamentations, confessions of sin, and prayers for pity ! 
Every hour of darkness that we suffer is dark because God turns away His face, or veils it in dis- 
pleasure. The most fruitful season of happiness would become barren if deprived of the Divine 
blessing ; what then must be the condition of man under the most afflicting misfortunes if deprived 
of all consolation from the Father of mercies; the prosperity of the wicked fills the mind with 
doubt and perplexity, till it begia to rest with confidence on the justice, wisdom, and benevolence 
of God. It then appeals to Him for help ; it declares its wants and apprehensions, and in its very 
praver feels that the heavenlv Father hath prepared the way for its consolation and final safety. 

475 



Bcuj 2. 



THE PSALMS. 




Psal. xi. In Domino confido. 

N the Lord put I my trust : how say ye 
then to my soul, that she should flee as a 
bird unto the hill ? 

2 For lo, the ungodly bend their bow, 
- and make ready their arrows within the 
quiver : that they may privily shoot at 
them which are true of heart. 

8 For the foundations will be cast 
down : and what hath the righteous done ? 

4 The Lord is in his holy temple : the Lord's seat is in heaven. 

5 His eyes consider the poor : and his eyelids try the children 
of men. 

6 The Lord alloweth the righteous : but the ungodly, and him 
that delighteth in wickedness, doth his soul abhor. 

7 Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, 
storm and tempest : this shall be their portion to drink. 

8 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness : his countenance 
will behold the thing that is just. 



EVENING PR AY EE. 

Psal. xii. Salviim me fae. 

LLP me, Lord, for there is not one godly 
man left : for the faithful are minished 
from among the children of men. 

2 They talk of vanity every one with his 
neighbour : they do but flatter with their 
lips, and dissemble in their double heart. 

3 The Lord shall root out all deceitful 
lips : and the tongue that speaketh proud 
things ; 

4 Which have said, With our tongue 
will we prevail : we are they that ought to 
speak, who is lord over us ? 

5 Now for the comfortless troubles' sake 
of the needy : and because of the deep sighing of the poor, 

Psalm XL— It is tlic privilege of God's people to know that He hears their prayers. However 
tne world may be agitated, lliey have always a place of refuge, aud the light of divine love sheds 

476 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 2. 



6 I will up, saith the Lord : and will help every one from him 
that swelleth against him, and will set him at rest. 

7 The words of the Lord are pure words : even as the silver, 
which from the earth is tried, and purified seven times in tlie fire. 

8 Thou shalt keep them, Lord : thou shalt preserve him from 
this generation for ever. 

9 The ungodly walk on every side : when they are exalted, the 
children of men are put to rebuke. 

Psal. xiii. Usque quo, Bomine ? 

OW long wilt thou forget me, Lord, 
for ever : how long wilt thou hide thy face 
from me ? 

2 How long shall I seek counsel in my 
soul, and be so vexed in my heart : how 
long shall mine enemies triumph over me ? 

3 Consider, and hear me, O Lord my 
God : lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not 
in death. 

4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him : for if I be 
cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it. 

5 But my trust is in thy mercy : and my heart is joyful in thy 
salvation. 

6 I will sing of the Lord, because he hath dealt so lovingly with 
me : yea, I will praise the Name of the Lord most Highest. 

its radiance on tlieir path when vexed with the fiercest storms. Everything is changing around 
them. - The wicked gain a momentary ascendancy ; it is mipossible by the very natin-e of things 
that they should keep it ; confusion attends their downfall, and the perpetual alternations of the 
scene fill the natural heart with dismay ; but in all these changes " the foundation of God standeth 
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His." 2 Tim. ii. 19. 

Psalm xn.— The depravity of the world presents a melancholy prospect to the believer, whether 
he consider the fate of mankind, the state of the Church, or the glory of God's name. Anxious 
for the conversion of the wicked, and ever praying that the great designs of salvation may be 
speedily fulfilled, he cries to God for help, in the deeply-felt conviction that He alone can stem 
the floods of iniquity, and snatch perishing souls from the overwhelming torrent. 

Psalm xiii. — Affliction, when the result of sin and folly, convinces the heart, if not dead to 
reflection, of God s severe displeasure. When repentance follows, and the soul humbles itself 
under the burden of its soitows, it is taught to feel that, so long as God refuses His wonted mercy, 
and hides His face from it in anger, it cannot cease to be miserable. It matters not from what 
cause the suffering arises, whether froin circumstances apparently natural, or from the persecution 
of enemies. God's returning mercy alone can bring peace again to the heart. Happy they, then, 
who, having deeply lamented their sins, and cried for help, are able to say, " We will be joyful, 
O Lord, in thy salvation, for we have trusted in thy mercy." 

477 





Day 2. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. xiv. Dixit insipiens. 

HE fool hath said in his heart : There is 
no God. 

2 They are corrupt, and become abomi- 
nable in their doings : there is none that 
doeth good, no not one. 

3 The Lord looked down from heaven 
upon the children of men : to see if there 
were any that w^ould understand, and seek 
after God. 

4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether be- 
come abominable : there is none that doeth good, no not one. 

5 Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues have they 
deceived : the poison of asps is under their lips. 

6 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness : their feet are 
swift to shed blood. 

7 Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways, and the way of 
peace have they not known : there is no fear of God before their 
eyes. 

8 Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of 
mischief : eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon 
the Lord? 

9 There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was : 
for God is in the generation of the righteous. 

10 As for you, ye have made a mock at the counsel of the poor : 
because he putteth his trust in the Lord. 

1 1 Who shall give salvation unto Israel out of Sion ? When the 
Lord turneth the captivity of his people : then shall Jacob rejoice, 
and Israel shall be glad. 

Psalm XIV. — St. Paul has tauglit us to apply this melancholy description of the wicked in the 
days of David to the state of mankind at large when the Gospel was first published to the world. 
Universal ignorance and vice are but the necessary consequences of universal depravity. The 
former can never cease till the latter is eradicated, and this can only be elfected in proportion as 
the Divine Spirit of the Gospel is diffused and obeyed. Folly and iniquity must at length inevi- 
tably yield to the sentence passed upon them ; but the power that subdues them may be either 
that of grace, or of justice. Whatever to them the consequences of the divine government, the 
righteous shall regain their liberty, God will turn their captivity, and they shall rejoice in His 
goodness for evermore. The 5th, 6th, and 7th verses are not in the original Hebrew, but were 
introduced into the old version from some copies of the Septuagint, and on the authority of 
Kom. iii. 13-18. 




478 



THE THIRD DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 




Bomine, quis Tiabitahit ? 

OED, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle : 
or who shall rest upon thy holy hill ? 

2 Even he, that leadeth an un corrupt 
life : and doeth the thing which is right, 
and speaketh the truth from his heart. 

3 He that hath used no deceit in his 
tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour : and 

hath not slandered his neighbour. 

4 He that setteth not by himself, but is lowly in his own eyes : 
and maketh much of them that fear the Lord. 



Psalm xv.— The house of God on earth is His Church ; His tabernacle, the innermost circle of 
His faithful people. Peace which passeth understanding fills the souls of those admitted to the 
spiritual Zion ; but how inconceivably glorious must be the state of those to whom an entrance is 
abundantly ministered into the courts of heaven, into the habitations prepared by Christ for His 
disciples in His Father's house ! The conditions of character necessary to this state of blessedness 
are those which God's law universally demands, and upon the principles of which all moral and 
spiritual good must eternally depend. Were it possible for the proud and the deceitful to prosper 
finally, it would be impossible for the virtuous to call God, Almighty. 

479 



Bay 3. 



THE PSALMS. 



5 He thcat swearetli unto his neighbour, and disappointeth him 
not : though it were to liis own hindrance. 

6 He that hath not given his money upon usury : nor taken 
reward against the innocent. 

7 Whoso doeth these things : shall never fall. 



Psal. xvi. Gonserva me, Bomine. 




EESERYE me, God : for in thee have 
I put my trust. 

2 my soul, thou hast said unto the 
i|| Lord : Thou art my God, my goods are 

nothing unto thee. 

3 All my delight is upon the saints^ that 
are in the earth : and upon such as excel 
in virtue. 

4 But they that run after another 
god : shall have great trouble. 

5 Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer : neither make 
mention of their names within my lips. 

6 The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance, and of 
my cup : thou shalt maintain my lot. 

7 The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground : yea, I have a 
goodly heritage. 

8 I will thank the Lord for giving me warning : my reins also 
chasten me in the night-season. 

9 I have set God always before me : for he is on my right hand, 
therefore I shall not fall. 

10 Wherefore my heart was glad, and my glory rejoiced : my 
flesh also shall rest in hope. 

1 1 For why ? thou shalt not leave my soul in hell : neither shalt 
thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. 

12 Thou shalt shew me the path of life ; in thy presence is the 
fulness of joy : and at thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore. 

Psalm xvi.— Trust in Gotl is allowed to form a claim upon His mercy. This is beautifully 
demonstrated in most of the Psalms, and in other prayers of God's people. Even in their worst 
afflictions, they know Him as a benefactor and a Saviour. They rejoice in Him, and in His 
word : bless Hmi for His warnings,— for the privileges and graces with which He has enriched 
them ; and, beholding the horrible crimes of the world, separate themselves wholly from its 
assemblies; The concluding verses of the psalm are a prophecy, which has been fulfilled in the 
everlasting triumph of Clirist Himself, and of His mystical body, over sin and death. (Acts ii. 24, 
xiii. 3.0.) 

480 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 3. 




Psal. xvii. Exaudi, Bomine. 

EAE the right, O Lord, consider my com- 
plaint : and hearken unto my prayer, that 
goeth not out of feigned lips. 

2 Let my sentence come forth from 
I thy presence : and let thine eyes look 
l' upon the thing that is equal. 

3 Thou hast proved and visited mine 
heart in the night-season ; thou hast tried 
me, and shalt find no wickedness in me : 

for I am utterly purposed that my mouth shall not offend. 

4 Because of men's works, that are done against the words of 
thy lips : I have kept me from the ways of the destroyer. 

5 hold thou up my goings in thy paths : that my footsteps 
slip not. 

6 I have called upon thee, God, for thou shalt hear me : in- 
cline thine ear to me, and hearken unto my words. 

7 Shew thy marvellous loving-kindness, thou that art the 
Saviour of them which put their trust in thee : from such as resist 
thy right hand. 

8 Keep me as the apple of an eye : hide me under the shadow 
of thy Avings. 

9 Prom the ungodly that trouble me : mine enemies compass 
me round about to take away my soul. 

10 They are inclosed in their own fat : and their mouth speaketh 
proud things. 

11 They lie waiting in our way on every side : turning their 
eyes down to the ground ; 

] 2 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey : and as it were a 
Hon's whelp, lurking in secret places. 

13 Up, Lord, disappoint him, and cast him down : deliver my 
soul from the ungodly, which is a sword of thine ; 

14 From the men of thy hand, Lord, from the men, I say, 
and from the evil world : which have their portion in this life, 
whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure. 

1 5 They have children at their desire : and leave the rest of 
their substance for their babes. 

16 But as for me, I will behold thy presence in righteousness : 
and when I awake up after thy likeness, I shaU be satisfied with it. 

Psalm xth. — " The just shall live by faith :" this has been known to the cMcben of God in all 
ages ; and David would have been the last to dispute a doctrine so necessary to the hopes wliieh 

481 3 Q 



Daij o. 



THE PSALMS. 



EVENING PEAYEE. 

Psal. xviii. Biligam te, Domine. 

WILL love thee, O Lord, my strength ; 
the Lord is my stony rock, and my defence : 
^ m}^ Saviour, my God, and my might, in 
1^ whom I will trust, my buckler, the horn 
f also of my salvation, and my refuge. 

2 I will call upon the Lord, which is 
\ worthy to be praised : so shall I be safe 
ll from mine enemies. 

|i 8 The sorrows of death compassed me : 
;| and the overflowings of ungodliness made 
i me afraid. 

; 4 The pains of hell came about me 
the snares of death overtook me. 

5 In my trouble I will call upon the Lord : and complain unto 
my God. 

6 So shall he hear my voice out of his holy temple : and my 
complaint shall come before him, it shall enter even into his ears. 

7 The earth trembled and quaked : the very foundations also of 
the hiJls shook, and were removed, because he was wroth. 

8 There went a smoke out in his presence : and a consuming 
fire out of his mouth, so that coals were kindled at it. 

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down : and it was dark 
under his feet. 

10 He rode upon the cherubims, and did fly : he came flying 
upon the wings of the wind. 

he clierished. When he speaks, therefore, in this and other psalms, respecting his freedom from 
wickedness, he either alludes to his conduct towards those by whom he was persecuted, or emj)loys 
the language of one who had been sanctified by God's free Spirit, and justified by God's free grace. 
The character of the wicked, their injustice, violence, and treachery, are powerfully described in 
this psalm. From hosts of such enemies, with Satan at their head, who should set the righteous 
free but He who experienced their malice, and overcame by the power of His perfect holiness? 

Psalm xvui. — This magnificent psalm was composed by David when he saw himself victorious 
over Saul and all his other enemies. (2 Sam. xxii. 1.) The recollection of the divine goodness, as 
manifested in his deliverance, mingled with the contemplation of the power wliich gave it such 
might against the legions of darkness. Hence love and gratitude breathe the subhme spirit of 
awe ; and the wonders of the Almighty's reign bear away the mind for a moment from the par- 
ticular instance of His mercy. But the Psalmist returns to the consideration of his own deliver- 
ance a,s if he had received a new and wonderful lesson of humihty from the elevation of his soul 
in that heavenly contemplation. He beholds l)is helplessness ; he ascribes the holiness which he 
enjoys to the same Source as his prosperity, and in this faith he looks forward to still further 
triumphs and increasing glory. But it was not to David that the language of the psalm could be 
most literally applied. It is in the history of Christ and His Church that we see its proper appli- 
cation ; and when the people of God now sing it, it has a force and clearness of meaning which 
it oould never have under tlie Law. ^Eoni. xv. 9.) 

482 






THE PSALMS. 



Bay 3. 



11 He made darkness his secret place : his pavilion round 
about him with dark water, and thick clouds to cover him. 

12 At the brightness of his presence his clouds removed : hail- 
stones, and coals of fire. 

13 The Lord also thundered out of heaven, and the Highest 
gave his thunder : hail-stones, and coals of fire. 

14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them : he cast forth 
lightnings, and destroyed them. 

15 The springs of waters were seen, and the foundations of the 
round world were discovered, at thy chiding, Lord : at the blast- 
ing of the breath of thy displeasure. 

16 He shall send down from on high to fetch me : and shall 
take mo out of many waters. 

17 He shall deliver me from my strongest enemy, and from 
them which hate me : for they are too mighty for me. 

18 They prevented me in the day of my trouble : but the Lord 
was my upholder. 

19 He brought me forth also into a place of liberty : he brought 
me forth, even because he had a favour unto me. 

20 The Lord shall reward me after my righteous dealing : ac- 
cording to the cleanness of my hands shall he recompense me. 

21 Because I have kept the ways of the Lord : and have not 
forsaken my Grod, as the wicked doth. 

22 For I have an eye unto all his laws : and will not cast out 
his commandments from me. 

23 I was also uncorrupt before him : and eschewed mine own 
wickedness. 

24 Therefore shall the Lord reward me after my righteous deal- 
ing : and according unto the cleanness of my hands in his eye-sight. 

25 A\"ith the holy thou shalt be holy : and with a perfect man 
thou shalt be perfect. 

26 With the clean thou shalt be clean : and with the fro ward 
thou shalt learn frowardness. 

27 For thou shalt save the people that are in adversity : and 
shalt bring down the high looks of the proud. 

28 Thou also shalt light my candle : the Lord my God shall 
make my darkness to be light. 

29 For in thee I shall discomfit an host of men : and with the 
help of my God I shall leap over the wall. 

30 The way of God is an undefiled way : the word of the Lord . 
also is tried in the fire ; he is the defender of all them, that put 
their trust in him. 

483 



Bay 3. 



THE PSALMS. 



31 For who is Grod, but tlie Lord : or who hath any strength, 
except our God ? 

C2 It is God, that girdeth me with strength of war : and maketh 
my way perfect. 

33 He maketh my feet hke harts' feet : and setteth me up on high. 

34 He teacheth mine hands to fight : and mine arms shall break 
even a bow of steel. 

35 Thou hast given me the defence of thy salvation : thy right 
hand also shall hold me up, and thy loving correction shall make 
me great. 

36 Thou shalt make room enough under me for to go : that my 
foot-steps shall not slide. 

37 I^\dll follow upon mine enemies, and overtake them : neither 
will I turn again till I have destroyed them. 

38 I will smite them, that they shall not be able to stand : but 
fall under my feet. 

39 Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle : thou 
shalt throw down mme enemies under me. 

40 Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn their backs upon 
me : and I shall destroy themi that hate me. 

41 They shall cry, but there shall be none to help them : yea, 
even unto the Lord shall they cry, but he shall not hear them. 

42 I will beat them as small as the dust before the wind : I will 
cast them out as the clay in the streets. 

43 Thou shalt dehver me from the strivings of the people : and 
thou shalt make me the head of the heathen. 

44 A people whom I have not known : shall serve me. 

45 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me : but the 
strange children shall dissemble with me. 

46 The strange children shall fail : and be afraid out of their 
prisons. 

47 The Lord liveth, and blessed be my strong helper : and 
praised be the God of my salvation. 

48 Even the God that seeth that I be avenged : and subdueth 
the people unto me. 

49 It is he that delivereth me from my cruel enemies, and 
setteth me up above mine adversaries : thou shalt rid me from the 
wicked man. 

50 For this cause will I give thanks unto thee, Lord, among 
the Gentiles : and sing praises unto thy Name. 

5 1. Great prosperity giveth he unto his King : and shewetli loving- 
kindness unto David his Anointed, and unto his seed for evermore. 
484 



THE FOUKTH DAY. 





5^ 



Psal. xix. CoeJi enarrant. 

HE heavens declare tlie glory of God : and 
the firmament sheweth his handy- work. 

2 One day telleth another : and one 
nio'ht certifieth another. 

3 There is neither speech nor language : 
but their voices are heard among them. 

out into all 



4 Their sound is gone 
lands : and their words into the ends of the world. 

5 In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun : which cometh 
forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant 
to run his course. 

Psalm xix. — The contemplative mind is here conducted to the two great volumes of Divine 
wisdom, the one of nature, the other of the law ; each being a revelation of God's power and 
goodness, while both are bound up in the circling bands of heavenly grace. It is a happy thing 
for the heart to be enabled to hear the heavens declaring the gloiy of God, — to find that the 
circling days have a voice, and that the sun is instinct with wisdom. But only half is done, and 
that the inferior part, when the mind confines itself to the revelations of nature. Xothing is there 
said respecting the soul which observes ; but the law of God, that is, the declaration of His will, 
— the unsealed volmne of His decrees, '• converts the soul,"' and " giveth wisdom unto the simple." 
It is this, therefore, which every understanding mind will chiefly seek. Filled T\ith the heavenly 
intelligence which it gives, it becomes humble and disposed to prayer ; it asks continually for the 
grace that cleanses, and for the holiness which may render every thought of the heart acceptable 
in the sight of God. 

485 



Datj 4. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and 
runneth about unto the end of it again : and there is nothing hid 
from the heat thereof 

7 The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul : 
the testimony of the Lord is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the 
simple. 

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, and rejoice the heart : the 
commandment of the Lord is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes. 

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, and endureth for ever : the 
judgements of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine 
gold : sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb. 

11 Moreover, by them is thy servant taught : and in keeping of 
them there is great reward. ^ 

12 Who can tell how oft he offendeth : cleanse thou me from 
my secret faults. 

1 3 Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get 
the dominion over me : so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from 
the great offence, 

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the mediation of my heart : 
be alway acceptable in thy sight, 

15 Lord : my strength, and my redeemer. 

Psal. XX. Exaudiat te Bominus. 

HE Lord hear thee in the day of trouble : 
the Nam e of the God of Jacob defend thee ; 

2 Send thee help from the sanctuary : 
and strengthen thee out of Sion ; 

3 Eemember all thy offerings : and ac- 
cept thy burnt-sacrifice ; 

4 Grant thee thy heart's desire : and 
fulfil all thy mind. 

, . , . ^ 5 will rejoice in tliy salvation, and 

triumph m the Name of the Lord our God : the Lord perform all 
thy petitions. 

kirr^'^rJ^rT/''' was a prayer of Israel's faithful people for the success of theii- persecuted 
king Spintxially coB.siaered, .t is the prayer of the Chnrch for the coming of Christ's kingdom 
L'su^ n^LTr:^^^^^ T^-e is a sent^Ten f 

~kiri trt th^^^^^^^^ ^npphoa^ioBs of this psalm. Ages back the believer might say,^ 
tht la" ^^^^^^^^^^^ --^^ thus exclaim' in 

486 




THE PSALMS. 



Baij 4. 



6 Now know I, that the Lord helpeth his Anointed, and will 
hear him from his holy heaven : even with the wholesome strength 
of his right hand. 

7 Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses : but we 
w^ill remember the Name of the Lord our Grod. 

8 They are brought down, and fallen : but we are risen, and 
stand upright. 

9 Save, Lord, and hear us, King of heaven : when we call 
upon thee. 

Psal. xxi. Bomine, in virtute tua. 

HE King shall rejoice in thy strength, 
Lord : exceeding glad shall he be of thy 
salvation. 

2 Thou hast given him his heart's de- 
sire : and hast not denied him the request 
of his hps. 

3 Eor thou shalt prevent him with the 
blessings of goodness : and shalt set a 
crown of pure gold upon his head. 

4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him a long life : even 
for ever and ever. 

5 His honour is great in thy salvation : glory and great worship 
shalt thou lay upon him. 

6 For thou shalt give him everlasting felicity : and make him 
glad with the joy of thy countenance. 

7 And why ? because the King putteth his trust in the Lord : 
and in the mercy of the most Highest he shall not miscarry. 

8 All thine enemies shall feel thy hand : thy right hand shall 
find out them that hate thee. 

9 Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven in time of thy wrath : 
the Lord shall destroy them in his displeasure, and the fire shall 
consume them. 

10 Their fruit shalt thou root out of the earth : and their seed 
from among the children of men. 

PsALii sxi. — God Tipholds the mimsters of His rigliteousness through all their struggles, and 
at length brings them to glory. As this is true of His dealings with the humblest of His servants, 
much more evidently is it so in respect to his own beloved Son, whose whole object it ever was to 
do His will, and by combined obedience and suffering to become the author of eternal salvation to 
all penitent sinners. The language of the Psalmist therefore may be closely applied to Christ in 
His capacity of Ptedeemer, and head of the Church. It is by the power of the Father and of the 
Holy Spirit that He has triumphed. He exercised all the vhtues of resignation towards eternal 
iustice, and His honour became RTeat in the Almightv's salvation. 

487 




Day 4. 



THE PSALMS. 



1 1 For they intended mischief against thee : and imagined such 
a device as they are not able to perform. 

1 2 Therefore shalt thou put them to flight : and the strings of 
thy bow shalt thou make ready against the face of them. 

13 Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength : so will we 
sing, and praise thy power. 



EVENING PEAYER. 




Psal. xxii. Beus, Bens mens. 

Y Grod, my God, look upon me ; why hast 
thou forsaken me : and art so far from my 
health, and from the words of my com- 
plaint ? 

2 my Grod, I cry in the day-time, but 
thou hearest not : and in the night-season 
also I take no rest. 

3 And thou continuest holy : thou 
worship of Israel. 

4 Our fathers hoped in thee : they trusted 
in thee, and thou didst deliver them. 

5 They called upon thee, and were 
holpen : they put their trust in thee, and 
were not confounded. 

am a worm, and no man : 
men, and the out-cast of the people. 

7 A.U they that see me laugh me to scorn : they shoot out their 
lips, and shake their heads, saying, 

8 He trusted in God, that he would deliver him 
him, if he will have him. 

9 But thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb : 
thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's breasts. 

Psalm xxii.— There is so awful a solemnity in this psalm that it fills the mind with a feeling of 
mysterious melancholy —with a sense of the Cross and passion. Om- blessed Lord's own appli- 
cation of it to HiraseK has consecrated it to the services, of Christian meditation in all ages. The 
wonderful fulfilment of the minute prophecies which it contains renders it as valuable as evidence 
as it is fitted by its patlios to move and deepen the affections. On reading the 17th chapter of 
St. Johh, with the account of the Agony and the Crucifixion in the other Gospels, we perceive at 
once the unity of spirit in which the lan.guage of the psalm was conceived, and in which Christ 
poured out His soul an ofi'ering for the sins of His people. Eendered capable of sufleriug by the 
very perfection of His humanity, He employed the language of humanity to express His sorrows. 
There is no particular alluded to in the psalm, or which is required to perfect affliction, which He 
did not endure. Woe be to the heart that can feel no svmpathv with a suffering Kedeemer ! 
488 



6 But as for me, I 



a very scorn of 



let him deliver 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 4. 



10 I have been left unto thee ever smce I was born : thou art 
my Grod even from my mother's womb. 

11 go not from me, for trouble is hard at hand : and there is 
none to help me. 

12 Many oxen are come about me : fat bulls of Basan close me 
in on every side. 

13 They gape upon me with their mouths : as it were a ramping 
and a roaring lion. 

14 1 am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint : 
my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax. 

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue 
cleaveth to my gums : and thou shalt bring me into the dust of death. 

16 For many dogs are come about me : and the council of the 
wicked layeth siege against me. 

17 They pierced my hands and my feet ; I may tell all my bones : 
they stand staring and looking upon me. 

18 They part my garments among them : and cast lots upon my 
vesture. 

19 But be not thou far from me, Lord : thou art my succour, 
haste thee to help me. 

20 Deliver my soul from the sword : my darling from the power 
of the dog. 

21 Save me from the lion's mouth : thou hast heard me also from 
among the horns of the unicorns. 

22 I will declare thy ISTame unto my brethren : in the midst of 
the congregation will I praise thee. 

23 praise the Lord, ye that fear him : magnify him^ all ye of 
the seed of Jacob, and fear him, all ye seed of Israel ; 

24 For he hath not despised, nor abhorred, the low estate of the 
poor : he hath not hid his face from him, but when he called unto 
him he heard him. 

25 My praise is of thee in the great congregation : my vows will 
I perform in the sight of them that fear him. 

26 The poor shall eat, and be satisfied : they that seek after the 
Lord shall praise him ; your heart shall live for ever. 

27 All the ends of the world shall remember themselves, and be 
turned unto the Lord : and all the kindreds of the nations shall 
worship before him. 

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's : and he is the Governour 
among the people. 

29 All such as be fat upon, earth : have eaten, and worshipped. 

489 3 R 



Day 4. 



THE PSALMS. 



30 All they that go down mto the dust shall kneel before him : 
and no man hath quickened his own soul. 

31 My seed shall serve him : they shall be counted unto the Lord 
for a generation. 

32 They shall come, and the heavens shall declare his righteous- 
ness : unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made. 



Psal. xxiii. Do minus regit me. 

.^Ai^k'^'^&^K^ HE Lord is my shepherd : therefore can 
■ijm^m^'^m I lack notbing. 

2 He shall feed me in a green pasture : 
T and lead me forth beside the waters of 
comfort. 

^-mm^^ji ; 3 He shall convert my soul : and bring 
^^'^^ forth in the paths of righteousness, for 
^"■7-^;-.:^^^^^^ -r^ ]^ig Name's sake. 

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; 
thy rod and thy staff comfort me. 

5 Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble 
me : thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full. 

6 But thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days 
of my hfe : and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

Psalm xxni. — How refreshing is this short, but exquisitely beautiful i^salm, after the melan- 
choly strains of that which precede it ! The Lord is indeed the Shepherd of His people. He has 
given His life for the sheep. The food wherewith He feeds them is heavenly, and the waters of 
which they drink are waters of life as well as of comfort. He meets them at the moment when 
they are about to enter the valley of the shadow of death ; and keeping with them till they are 
safely through, conducts them to the home which He has prepared for them in His Father's 
house. Who would not wish to be able to adopt the language and sentiments of this psalm ? The 
least observant of mankind discover the dissatisfaction of the worldly with the world which they 
worship. It is not the unfortunate and the care-worn only that are miserable in the tiu-moil of 
life. The most independent, the richest, and the most powerful, share alike with the poorest in the 
discomfitures of a mere earthly existence. Perseverance in a course of worldly ambition or folly, 
or even too close an occuj^ation of the mind in the ordinary pursuits of life, leaves as, at the last, 
a prey to every species of uneasy feeling. We rebuke ourselves for our want of penetration and 
wisdom ; and hate everything around us, because it is incapable, by its very nature, of bestowing 
the pleasure which we expected to derive from its possession. How different the state of the man 
who can use, as the language of his heart, the words of this psalm !— who feels that the Lord is 
his Shepherd ;— that it is He who spreads his table, and fills his cup ;— that, when his strength 
fails him, He will be his support ; — and that, at the last, He will anoint him with the gladness of 
His own Spu'it ! — To such a man, no place wUl be so abounding in comfort as the sanctuary of 
God, — no, employment so redolent of satisfaction as the worship of His name. WhUe with the 
Psalmist, therefore, he rejoices to sa}^ " Thy loving-kinduess and mercy shall follow me all the 
days of my life," — with the Psalmist also he will say, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for 
ever." 

490 



THE FIFTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 




Psal. xxiv. Domini est terra, 

HE earth is the Lord's, and all that therein 
is : the compass of the world, and they 
that dwell therein. 

2 For he hath founded it npon the seas : 
and prepared it upon the floods. 

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the 
Lord : or who shall rise up in his holy place ? 

fy ; 4 Even he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart : and 
^ that hath not lift up his mind unto vanity, nor sworn to de- 
^ ceive his neighbour. 

5 He shall receive the blessing Irom the Lord : and righ- 
teousness from the Grod of his salvation. 



Psalm xxiv. — Tliis psalm is sujDposed to be one of those which were used when the Ark of God 
was carried in solemn procession up Mount Zion. (1 Chron. xv.) Priests and Levites, and the 
fathers of Israel, joined in the lofty chorus ; exhorting each other to Holiness, and magnifying the 
righteousness of Jehovah, The Church of Christ has adopted it as nobly commemorating His as- 
cension into heaven. Viewed in this light, it has an echo in the heart of every one who knows the 
value of redemption, or rejoices in the hope of everlasting life. The King of Glory is the Saviour 
of the w^orld, and the gates of heaven opening to Him, are open also to all who have been washed 
in His blood. 

491 



Day 5. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 This is tlie generation of them that seek him : even of them 
that seek thy face, Jacob. 

7 Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlast- 
ing doors : and the King of glory shall come in. 

8 Who is the King of glory : it is the Lord strong and mighty, 
even the Lord mighty in battle. 

9 Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlast- 
ing doors : and the King of glory shall come in. 

1 Who is the King of glory : even the Lord of hosts, he is the 
King of glory. 

Psal. XXV. Ad te, Domine, levavi. 

NTO thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul ; 
my God, I have put my trust in thee : O 
let me not be confounded, neither let mine 
enemies triumph over me. 

2 For all they that hope in thee shall 
not be ashamed : but such as trangress 
without a cause shall be put to confusion. 

3 Shew me thy ways, O Lord : and 
teach me thy paths. 

4 Lead me forth in thy truth, and learn me : for thou art the 
God of my salvation ; in thee hath been my hope all the day long. 

5 Call to remembrance, Lord, thy tender mercies : and thy 
loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old. 

6 remember not the sins and offences of my youth : but accord - 
ing to thy mercy think thou upon me, O Lord, for thy goodness. 

7 Gracious and righteous is the Lord : therefore will he teach 
sinners in the way. 

8 Them that are meek shall he guide in judgement : and such as 
are gentle, them shall he learn his way. 

Psalm xxv. — The style of this psahn adapts it to the use of the Church, and of its members, in 
all periods of their course. Satan is unwearied in his efforts to destroy them, and tlie season of 
tranquillity, therefore, is not without its difficulties and dangers. From tliese, and from the more 
apparent perils of persecution and distress, tlie grace of God is the only sui^icient protection. For 
tliis, then, they pray ; they supplicate Him for knowledge and salvation, and in the assurance of 
His love tread the paths of life with joy. But the happiness of the Christian is not secm-ed by a 
few casiial and long intermitted efforts. Eei3entance, faith, the experience of mercy, with corre- 
sponding gratitude, blend together in the work of softening and sanctifying the heart. " Call to 
remembrance, Lord, thy tender mercies, and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of 
old." This is the prayer of the children of God. They know that He will be merciful unto them 
for His Name's sake ; and, in their desolateness, they turn unto Him with a hope which of itself 
almost amquers sorrow. 

492 




THE PSALMS. Bay 5. 

9 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth : unto such as 
keep his covenant, and his testimonies. 

10 For thy Name's sake, Lord : he merciful unto my sin, for 
it is great. 

1 1 What man is he, that fearetli the Lord : him shall he teach 
in the way that he shall choose. 

1 2 His soul shall dwell at ease : and his seed shall inherit the land. 

13 The secret of the Lord is among them that fear him : and he 
will shew them his covenant. 

14 Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord for he shall pluck 
my feet out of the net. 

1 5 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me : for I am de- 
solate, and in misery. 

16 The sorrows of my heart are enlarged : hring thou me out 
of my troubles. 

17 Look upon my adversity and misery : and forgive me all my 
sin. 

18 Consider mine enemies, how many they are : and they bear 
a tyrannous hate against me. 

19 keep my soul, and deliver me : let me not be confounded, 
for I have put my trust in thee. 

20 Let perfectness and righteous dealing wait upon me : for my 
hope hath been in thee. 

21 Deliver Israel, God : out of all his troubles. 



Psal. xxvi. Juclica me, Bomine. 



E thou my Judge, Lord, for I have 
walked innocently : my trust hath been 
also in the Lord, therefore shall I not fall. 

2 Examine me, Lord, and prove me : 
try out my reins and my heart. 

3 For thy loving-kindness is ever before 
mine eyes : and I will walk in thy truth. 

4 I have not dwelt with vain persons : 
neither will I have fellowship with the deceitful. 

Psalm xxvi. — The consciousness of integrity affords the mind equal comfort and support in its 
appeal from man to God ; but should the same comfort be sought by an appeal from the righteous- 
ness of God to human merits, discomfiture here, and misery hereafter, can be the only result. *' If 
we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." This is so 
evident on a comparison of the Divine law with the corruptions and infirmities of mankind, that 
the blinding influences of sin are never more clearly seen than when we endeavom- to plead our 
innocence before the judgment-seat of God. " The natural men receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God," and " they that are in the flesh cannot please God." So that if there be either 

493 




Day 5. 



THE PSALMS. 



5 I have hated the congregation of the wicked : and will not sit 
among the nngodly. 

6 I will wash my hands in innocency, Lord : and so will I go 
to thine altar ; 

7 That I may shew the voice of thanksgiving : and tell of all 
thy wondrous works. 

8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house : and the place 
where thine honour dwelleth. 

9 shut not up my soul with the sinners : nor my life with the 
blood-thirsty ; 

10 In whose hands is wickedness : and their right hand is full of 
gifts. 

11 But as for me, I will walk innocently : deliver me, and be 
merciful unto me. 

12 My foot standeth right : I will praise the Lord in the con- 
gregations. 



EVENING PEAYEE. 

Psal. xxvii. Dominus illumincttio. 

HE Lord is my light, and my salvation ; 
whom then shall I fear : the Lord is the 
strength of my life ; of whom then shall 
I be afraid ? 

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies, 
and my foes, came upon me to eat up my 
flesh : they stumbled and fell. 

3 Though an host of men were laid 
against me, yet shall not my heart be 
afraid : and though there rose up war 
against me, yet will I put my trust in him. 

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, 
which I will require : even that I may 

dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the 
fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple. 

righteousness or holiness in us, it must be the gift of God Himself, His mercy finding an atone- 
ment for our sins, and His Spirit supplying the fountains of sanctification. David, therefore, 
speaks of his innocency, as one who had not committed the offences laid to his charge by the 
world ; and of his love of holiness, — of his dehgbt in the law of God, as one who had been con- 
verted and purified by the grace which He had given him. 

494 




THE PSALMS. 



Datj 5. 



5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his tabernacle : 
jea, in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me, and set 
me up upon a rock of stone. 

6 And now shall he lift up mine head : above mine enemies 
round about me. 

7 Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation with great 
gladness : I will sing, and speak praises unto the Lord. 

S Hearken unto my voice, Lord, when I cry unto thee : have 
mercy upon me, and hear me. 

9 My heart hath talked of thee. Seek ye my face : Thy face. 
Lord, will I seek. 

10 hide not thou thy face from me : nor cast thy servant 
away in displeasure. 

11 Thou hast been my succour : leave me not, neither forsake 
me, Grod of my salvation. 

12 When my father and my mother forsake me : the Lord 
taketh me up. 

13 Teach me thy w^ay, Lord : and lead me in the right way, 
because of mine enemies. 

14 Deliver me not over into the will of mine adversaries : for 
there are false witnesses risen up against me, and such as speak 
wrong. 

15 1 should utterly have fainted : but that I believe verily to see 
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 

16 tarry thou the Lord's leisure : be strong, and he shall com- 
fort thine heart ; and put thou thy trust in the Lord. 

PsALii xxYH. — Most men acknowledge the Almiglity power of God ; but it is His children only 
that feel His power to be their salvation and their glory. The first verse of this psalm is full of 
spuitual beauty, and breathes more of the Gospel than of the law. It is the apprehension of God 
in this manner which sheds so blessed a calm over the soul of the believer. What are a host 
of enemies to him, if he be sure that God is for him ? Wh&t cares he for the world, or that all 
doors be shut against him, if the sanctuary of his Lord and his Saviour be ever open to receive 
him ? In the silent communings of his heart, he has listened to the voice of God and obeyed it. 
The experience of life confirms the wisdom of his sohtaiy thoughts ; and he is strengthened for 
all the trials and all the duties of life. Exhortations founded on the long experience of holy men, 
impress thoughtful minds with the most serious convictions of what is due to religion. The cha- 
racters with which we become acquaiated in Scripture, manifest, under eveiy variety of circum- 
stance, the power of the Divine Spirit. But the value of example must always greatly depend 
upon similarity of condition ; and hence the inestimable worth of a history which exhibits himian 
nature itself, with all its modifications, governed by a power which can give beauty and sanctity 
to the least promising of its attributes. It was in the fulness of an experience, gained by constant 
observation of God's providence, that the Psalmist uttered the admonition, containing so much of 
comfort and of wisdom, " O tarry thou the Lord's leisure : be strong, and He shall comfort thine 
heart ; and put thou thy ti-ust in the Lord." The patience of which he speaks has been ever 
found by the people of God a harbinger of peace and happiness. As soon as they have been 
really satisfied of the goodness of the Lord, they have begun to see the dawning of the day of 
redemption. 

495 



Bay 5. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. xxviii. Ad te, JDomine. 

NTO tliee will I cry, Lord my strength : 
think no scorn of me ; lest, if thou make 
as thongh thou hearest not, I become like 
them that go down into the pit. 

2 Hear the voice of my humble peti- 
tions, when I cry unto thee : when I hold 
up my hands towards the mercy- seat of 
thy holy temple. 

8 pluck me not away, neither destroy 
me with the ungodly and wicked doers : wdiich speak friendly to their 
neighbours, but imagine mischief in their hearts. 

4 Eeward them according to their deeds : and according to the 
w-ickedness of then^ owm inventions, 

5 Eecompense them after the work of their hands : pay them 
that they have deserved. 

6 For they regard not in their mind the works of the Lord, nor 
the operation of his hands : therefore shall he break them dowm, 
and not build them up. 

7 Praised be the Lord : for he hath heard the voice of my 
humble petitions. 

S The Lord is my strength, and my shield *, my heart hath 
trusted in him, and I am helped : therefore my heart danceth for 
joy, and in my song will I praise him. 

9 The Lord is my strength : and he is the wholesome defence of 
his Anointed. 

10 save thy people, and give thy blessing unto thine inherit- 
ance : feed them, and set them up for ever. 

Psalm xxvin, — The continued exercise of faith is as necessary to the increase of hoKness as to 
the success of om- prayers. Thus, when God withdi'aws for a season the light of His countenance, 
it is the part of the believer still to trust in His promises, and to look for the cause in his sins or 
deficiencies, rather than in any change of purpose with the good and gracious God. The prayer of 
faith is therefore eminently efficacious to the afflicted soul ; and few have ever mom-ned over lost 
hopes with any degree of earnestness, who have not, in the midst of tlieir entreaties, felt a stirring 
at the heart, which inclined them to exclaim, " Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard tlie 
voice of my suiDpli cations." This psalm is supposed b}^ some to have been composed by David 
when in exile. If he was the author of it, VvC find liim rejoicing, as Daniel in later times, in 
stretching forth his hands towards the distant mercy-seat. But it is more probable that the psalm 
was written during the Babylonish captivity, and formed one of the plaintive melodies witli which 
the more spiritual of the exQes delighted to soothe their sorrows. Happy are the people of Christ ! 
Though they may have many trials, they can never be subject to those which so often afflicted the 
pious Israelite. The mercy-seat of the Saviour is to be found everywhere. They dwell in His 
presence, and they enjoy the revelations of His living oracles, though banished to the uttermost 
parts of the earth. 

496 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 5. 




Psal. xxix. Afferte Domino. 

EINGr unto tlie Lord, ye mighty, bring 
young rams unto the Lord : ascribe unto 
the Lord worship and strength. 

2 Grive the Lord the honour due unto 
his Name : worship the Lord with holy 
worship. 

3 It is the Lord, that commandeth the 
waters : it is the glorious God, that 
maketh the thunder. 

4 It is the Lord, that ruleth the sea ; the voice of the Lord is 
mighty in operation : the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice. 

5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedar-trees : yea, the 
Lord breaketh the cedars of Libanus. 

6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf : Libanus also, and 
Sirion, Kke a young unicorn. 

7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire ; the voice 
of the Lord shaketh the wilderness : yea, the Lord shaketh the 
wilderness of Cades. 

8 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to bring forth young, 
and discovereth the thick bushes : in his temple doth every man 
speak of his honour. 

9 The Lord sitteth above the water-flood : and the Lord re- 
main eth a King for ever. 

10 The Lord shall give strength unto his people : the Lord 
shall give his people the blessing of peace. 

Psalm xxix. — This noble and triurapliant song ascribes to the Almighty the honours of uni- 
versal lordship. But it is in the beauty of holiness that He is to be worshipped, even when 
praised for His dominion over the visible creation. The God of nature can only be rightly 
honoured as a God of truth and love ; the most unlimited power having no beauty or excellence 
in itself, but owing all its sublimity and splendour to the spiritual attributes which direct its ope- 
rations, making for everlasting the invincible means of good. To such a Being as this the purest 
worship is due : — a worship that shall express our sense of His power ; for " It is the Lord that 
commandeth the waters : it is the glorious God that maketh the thunder :" — a worship that shall 
declare our knowledge of His universal mercy; for "The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds 
to bring forth young, and discovereth the thick bushes ;" — a worship that shall speak of His 
sovereignty over a peculiar people, and of the greatness of the wisdom which He exercises in their 
behalf ; for " The Lord sitteth above the water-flood : and the Lord remaineth a King for ever ! 
The Lord shall give strength unto His people : the Lord shall give His people the blessing of 
peace." The precept, therefore, "Give the Lord the honour due unto His Name : worship the 
Lord with holy worship," requires us to meditate on the mingling wonders of His goodness and 
His power ; — on the operations of His providence, and the manifestations of His grace— purifying, 
comforting, and enlightening, whenever it is bestowed. 



497 3 s 



THE SIXTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 



42- 



(9 



c 





Psal. XXX. Exaltcibo te, Bomine. 

WILL magnify thee, Lord, for thou 
hast set me up : and not made my foes to 
triumph over me. 

2 Lord my God, I cried unto thee : 
and thou hast healed me. 

3 Thou, Lord, hast brought my soul 
out of liell : thou hast kept my life from 

them that go down to the pit. 

4 Sing praises unto the Lord, jq saints of his : and give 
thanks unto him for a remembrance of his holiness. 



Psalm xxx. — The goodness of God may be traced in all His works ; but it is never more 
distinctly seen than in His answers to His people. They cry unto Him for help, and their 
afflictions are removed, or their hearts rendered stronger to bear them. It is not to any fortuitous 
circumstance that they^can attribute the peace which constantlj^ succeeds the exercise of earnest 
and patient devotion. Their humility suppresses the excitement of enthusiasm ; but as they 
find themselves aided in their sorrows if they seek God, but perplexed with unexpected ti-oubles, 
in the midst of prosperitj^ when they neglect His service, they gladly conclude that He is the 
sure and ever-active cause of good, and that, in his wonderful mercy. He allows Himself to be 
moved by the prayers of the penitent ; so that when they plead with Him, He pardons and turns 
their heaviness into joy, and girds them with gladness. The Psalmist alludes to deliverances from 
the severest kind of affliction when he speaks of his soul being brought out of hell, — that is, in 
Sciipture language, out of the grave, the dark and gloomv abyss of helplessness. 

498 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 6. 



5 For liis wrath enelureth but the twinkling of an eye, and in 
his pleasure is life : heaviness may endure for a night, but joy 
Cometh in the morning. 

6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be removed : thou, 
Lord, of thy goodness hast made my hill so strong. 

7 Thou didst turn thy face from me : and I was troubled. 

8 Then cried I unto thee, Lord : and gat me to my Lord 
right humbly. 

9 ^¥hat profit is there in my blood : when I go down to the pit ? 

10 Shall the dust give thanks unto thee : or shall it declare thy 
truth ? 

11 Hear, Lord, and have mercy upon me : Lord, be thou my 
helper. 

12 Thou hast turned my heaviness into joy : thou hast put off 
my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. 

13 Therefore shaU every good man sing of thy praise without 
ceasing : my G-od, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. 

Psal. xxxi. Ill te, Domine, speravi. 

N thee, Lord, have I put my trust : let 
me never be put to confusion, deliver me 
in thy righteousness. 

2 Bow down thine ear to me : make 
haste to deliver me. 

3 And be thou my strong rock and 
house of defence : that thou mayest save 
me. 

4 For thou art my strong rock, and 
my castle : be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy Name's sake. 

5 Draw me out of the net, that they have laid privily for me : 
for thou art my strength. 

Psalm xxxi. — Faith and experience have an equal share in strengthening the heart of the 
believer. The one brought him to God in the first instance, the other has given to it all the 
sweetness of love. "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit," were words uttered by our Saviour 
on the cross ; and hence we are authorised in spiritually interpreting the description of David's 
soiTows and triumphs as applying to those of Chiist. But this can only be done by oui- constantly 
bearing in mind, not only the humanity of the Eedeemer, but his responsibility as the representa- 
tive sacrifice for sin. " My strength faileth me because of mine iniquity," might be said by David 
with a most melancholy recollection of his guilt ; but when the same words are referred to Christ, 
they must be coupled with those of Isaiah, — " He was wounded for our transgTessions, He was 
bruised for our iniquities." " He bare the sins of many." 

499 




Day 6. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 Into thy hands I commend my spirit : for thou hast redeemed 
me, Lord, thou God of truth. 

7 I have hated them that hold of superstitious vanities : and my 
trust hath been in the Lord. 

8 I will be glad, and rejoice in thy mercy : for thou hast consi- 
dered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities. 

9 Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy : but 
hast set my feet in a large room. 

10 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble : and mine 
eye is consumed for very heaviness ; yea, my soul and my body. 

11 For my life is waxen old with heaviness : and my years with 
mourning. 

1.2 My strength faileth me, because of mine iniquity : and my 
bones are consumed. 

13 I became a reproof among all mine enemies, but especially 
among my neighbours : and they of mine acquaintance were afraid 
of me 5 and they that did see me without conveyed themselves 
from me. 

14 I am clean forgotten, as a dead man out of mind : I am 
become like a broken vessel. 

1 5 For I have heard the blasphemy of the multitude : and fear 
is on every side, while they conspire together against me, and take 
their counsel to take away my life. 

16 But my hope hath been in thee, Lord : I have said, Thou 
art my God. 

17 My time is in thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine 
enemies : and from them that persecute me. 

18 Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance : and save 
me for thy mercy's sake. 

19 Let me not be confounded, Lord, for I have called upon 
thee : let the ungodly be put to confusion, and be put to silence in 
the grave. 

20 Let the lying lips be put to silence : which cruelly, disdain- 
fully, and despitefully, speak against the righteous. 

210 how plentiful is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for 
th em that fear thee : and that thou hast prepared for them that put 
their trust in thee, even before the sons of men i 

22 Thou shalt hide them privily by thine own presence from 
the provoking of all men : thou shalt keep them secretly in thy 
tabernacle from the strife of tongues. 
500 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 6. 



23 Thanks be to the Lord : for he hath shewed me marvellous 
great kindness in a strong city. 

24 And when I made haste, I said : I am cast out of the sight 
of thine eyes. 

25 Nevertheless, thou heardest the voice of my prayer : when I 
cried unto thee. 

26 love the Lord, all ye his saints : for the Lord preserveth 
them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardetli the proud doer. 

27 Be strong, and he shall establish your heart : all ye that put 
your trust in the Lord. 



EVENING PEAYER. 

Psal. xxxii. Beati, quorum. 



6 

forg 



LESSED is he whose unrighteousness is 
. - ~. % forgiven : and whose sin is covered. 

2 Blessed is the man unto whom the 
Lord imputeth no sin : and in whose spirit 
there is no guile. 

3 For while I held my tongue : my 
bones consumed away through my daily 
complaining. 

4 For thy hand is heavy upon me day 
and night : and my moisture is like the 
drought in summer. 

5 I will acknowledge my sin unto thee : 
and mine unrighteousness have I not hid. 

I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord : and so thou 
avest the wickedness of my sin. 
For this shall every one that is godly make his prayer unto 




Psalm xxxn. — Sin in the heart is a burden and disease which will never allow of its enjoying 
repose. It blights whatever comes near it ; and tlie faculties of the soul lie dormant beneath its 
influence, while by its touch the lower passions of our nature are converted into the most active of 
tormentors. The state of a man, with sin infecting all the issues of his being, is as degrading as 
it is afflictive ; and when the light of heaven has awakened him to a sense of his real condition, 
and he beholds the peace and felicity of those who have escaped the tyranny of sin, how can he 
help exclaiming, " Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sin is covered !'' 
Confession is the first work of a repentant heart. Till this is performed, it feels its misery daily 
increasing. " While I held my tongue my bones consumed away through my daily complaining :" 
But sin acknowledged, the humble appeal having been made to the Almighty's mercy, the imme- 
diate retrospect is one of joy and thankfulness — " I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord ; and 
so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin." God thenceforward is a place of refuge to the soul ; 
and His blessings surround it on every side. 

501 



Day 6. 



THE PSALMS. 



tliee, in a time when thou may est be found : bat in the great 
water-floods they shall not come nigh him. 

8 Thou art a place to hide me in, thou shalt preserve me from 
trouble ; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. 

9 I will inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou 
shalt go : and I will guide thee with mine eye. 

10 Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understand- 
ing : whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, lest they fall 
upon thee. 

11 Great plagues remain for the ungodly : but whoso putteth 
his trust in the Lord, mercy embraceth him on every side. 

12 Be glad, ye righteous, and rejoice in the Lord : and be 
joyful, all ye that are true of heart. 




Psal. xxxiii. Exultate, justi. 

EJOICE in the Lord, Oye righteous : for 
it becometh well the just to be thankful. 

2 Praise the Lord with harp : sing 
praises unto him with the lute, and instru- 
ment of ten strings. 

3 Sing unto the Lord a new song : sing 
praises lustily unto him with a good 
courage. 

4 For the word of the Lord is true : 
and all his works are faithful. 

5 He loveth righteousness and judgement : the earth is full of 
the goodness of the Lord. 

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made : and all the 
hosts of them by the breath of his mouth. 

7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together, as it were upon 
an heap : and layeth up the deep, as in a treasure-house. 

8 Let aU the earth fear the Lord : stand in awe of him, all ye 
that dwell in the world. 

9 For he spake, and it was done : he commanded, and it stood fast. 

10 The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought : 

Psalm xxxm.— As sin shuts us out from tlie vision of God, so holiness reveals Him to us. The 
knowledge of His nature when thus contemplated fills the heart with satisfaction and delight ; and 
it is then its best employment to pour out itself in songs of thanksgiving. God being known in 
the perfection of His power, justice and mercy, the soul looks around the various provinces of the 
universe tor exemplifications of His attributes in operation. This it sees in the heavens, made by 
His word in the earth, and in the waters ; and yet more clearly in those workings of providence 
whereby the power of the wicked is brought to nought, and the counsels of wisdom and mercy 
established for ever. The soul which thus rejoices in the Lord can wholly put its trust in Him. 
502 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 6. 



and maketli tlie devices of the people to be of none efPect; and 
casteth out the counsels of princes. 

11 The counsel of the Lord shall endui-e for ever : and the 
thoughts of his heart from generation to generation. 

12 Blessed are the people, whose God is the Lord Jehovah : and 
blessed are the folk, that he hath chosen to him to be his inheritance. 

1 3 The Lord looked down fi'om heaven, and beheld aU the chil- 
dren of men : from the habitation of his dwelling he consiclereth all 
them that dwell on the earth. 

14 He fashioneth all the hearts of them : and understandeth all 
their works. 

1 5 There is no king that can be saved by the multitude of an 
host : neither is any mighty man delivered by much strength. 

16 A horse is counted but a vain thing to save a man : neither 
shall he deliver any man by his great strength. 

17 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him : 
and upon them that put theh trust in his mercy ; 

18 To deliver their soul from death : and to feed them in the 
time of dearth. 

19 Our soul hath patiently tarried for the Lord : for he is our 
help, and our shield. 

20 For our heart shall rejoice in him : because we have hoped 
in his holy Xame. 

21 Let thy merciful kindness, Lord, be upon us : like as we 
do put our trust in thee. 

Psal. xxxiy. Benediccim Domino. 

WILL alway give thanks unto the Lord : 
^ his praise shall ever be in my mouth. 

# 2 My soul shall make her boast in the 

^ ^ Lord : the humble shall hear thereof, and 

#^ " be glad. 

3 praise the Lord with me : and let 
us magnify his [N'ame together. 

4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me : 
yea, he clehvered me out of all my fear. 

5 They had an eye unto him, and were lightened : and their 
faces were not ashamed. 

6 Lo, the poor crieth, and the Lord heareth him : yea, and 
saveth him out of all his troubles. 

503 




])aij 6. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 The angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear 
him : and delivereth them. 

8 taste, and see how gracious the Lord is : blessed is the man 
that trustetli in him. 

9 fear the Lord, ye that are his saints : for they that fear him 
lack nothino:. 

1 The lions do lack, and suffer hanger : but they who seek the 
Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good. 

11 Come, ye children, and hearken unto me : I will teach you 
the fear of the Lord. 

12 What man is he that lusteth to live : and would fain see 
good days ? 

13 Keep thy tongue from evil : and thy lips, that they speak no 
guile. 

14 Eschew evil, and do good : seek peace, and ensue it. 

1 5 The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous : and his ears 
are open unto their prayers. 

16 The countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil : 
to root out the remembrance of them from the earth. 

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth them : and de- 
livereth them out of all their troubles. 

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart : and 
will save such as be of an humble spirit. 

19 Grreat are the troubles of the righteous : but the Lord de- 
livereth him out of all. 

20 He keepeth all his bones : so that not one of them is broken. 

21 But misfortune shall slay the ungodly : and they that hate 
the righteous shall be desolate. 

22 The Lord delivereth the souls of his servants : and all they 
that put their trust in him shall not be destitute. 

Psalm xxxiv.— The deliverances which God effects for us are so wonderful, tliat we remember 
but the smaller part of His mercies when the mind rests in the consideration of natural blessings. 
For these the gratitude and services of a life would be but a poor return; but what ought to be our 
efforts to acknowledge the goodness of the Creator when redemption has been added to creation, 
and the gift of the eternal Spirit to the natural endowments of reason ! Yet great as is the 
argument to be hence advanced, it admits of being rendered stronger by the appeal to individual 
observation.^ "I sought the Lord, and He heard me," The man who can say this has "the 
witness in himself;" and it is his noblest pleasure to have the praises of the Lord ever in his 
mouth, as the recollection of His goodness is ever filling the depths of his soul. From the ex- 
perimental knowledge of these things, the psalmist draws a practical lesson of corresponding im- 
portance. The holy alone can enjoy the blessing of the Lord ; His countenance is against those 
who do evil, and they will cry in vain for deliverance when the day of their trial comes. 



504 



THE SEVENTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 




Psal. XXXV. Judica, Domine. 

LEAD thou my cause, Lord, with them 
that strive with me : and fight thou against 
them that fight against me. 

2 Lay hand upon the shield and buckler : 
and stand up to help me. 

3 Bring forth the spear, and stop the 
way against them that persecute me : say 

unto my soul, I am thy salvation. 

4 Let them be confounded, and put to shame, that seek after 
my soul : let them be turned back, and brought to confusion, that 
imagine mischief for me. 

Psalm xxxv. — It is to the righteous power of God that believers look in all their dangers and 
afflictions. The present psalm, like the twenty-second, exhibits the Eepresentative of the Church, 
in His hour of trial, struggling with the power of evil,— with the world in all its wrath and per- 
verseness, — with the false witnesses which it summons, — with the cruelty and ingratitude v^rhich 
characterise its ruling spirit. Mighty as is tlie strength of evil, it is altogether hel^Dless when 
brought into direct collision wiih the grace of God. This is an article in the creed of every one 
who is willing to sutTer in His cause. Hence the prayer that He would judge the wicked ;— that 
He would consider their pride and baseness, and prevent their finally gaining that triumph which 
seems promised them by the subtlety or daring iniquity that marks their course. 

505 3 T 



I)af/ 7. 



THE PSAL]\[S. 



5 Let them be as the dust l^efore the wind : and the angel of 
the Lord scatterinsr them. 

6 Let their way be dark and slippery : and let the angel of the 
Lord persecute them. 

7 For they have privily laid their net to destroy me without a 
cause : 3'ea, even without a cause have they made a pit for my soul. 

8 Let a sudden destruction come upon him unawares, and his 
net, that he hath laid privily, catch himself : that he may fall into 
his own mischief 

9 And, my soul, be joyful in the Lord : it shall rejoice in his 
salvation. 

10 All my bones shall say, Lord, wdio is Kke unto thee, who 
deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him : yea, the 
poor, and him that is in misery, from him that spoileth him ? 

ll^False witnesses did rise up : they laid to my charge things 
that I knew not. 

12 They rewarded me evil for good : to the great discomfort of 
my soul. 

13 Nevertheless, when they v/ere sick, I put on sackcloth, and 
humbled my soul with fasting : and my prayer shall turn into 
mine own bosom. 

14 I behaved myself as though it had been my friend, or my 
brother : I went heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother, 

15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered them- 
selves together : yea, the very abjects came together against me 
unawares, making mouths at me, and ceased not. 

16 With the flatterers were busy mockers : who gnashed upon 
me with their teeth. 

17 Lord, how long wilt thou look upon this : deliver my 
soul from the calamities which they bring on me, and my darling 
from the lions. 

18 So wiU I give thee thanks in the great congregation : I will 
praise thee among much people. 

19 let not them that are mine enemies triumph over me un- 
godly : neither let them wink with their eyes that hate me with- 
out a cause. 

20 And why? their communing is not for peace : but they 
imagine deceitful words against them that are quiet in the land. 

21 They gaped upon me with their mouths, and said : Fie on 
thee, fie on thee, we saw it with our eyes. 

50G 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 7. 



22 This thou hast seen, Lord : hold not thy tongue then, 
go not far from me, O Lord, 

23 Awake, and stand up to judge my quarrel : avenge thou my 
cause, my Grod, and my Lord. 

24 Judge me, Lord my God, according to thy righteousness : 
and let them not triumph over me. 

25 Let them not say in their hearts, There, there, so would we 
have it -. neither let them say, We have devoured him. 

26 Let them be put to confusion and shame together, that 
rejoice at my trouble : let them be clothed with rebuke and dis- 
honour, that boast themselves against me. 

27 Let them be glad and rejoice, that favour my righteous 
dealing : yea, let them, say alway, Blessed be the Lord, who hath 
pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 

28 And as for my tongue, it shall be talking of thy righteous- ' 
ness : and of thy praise all the day long. 

Psal. xxxvi. Dixit injustus. 

Y heart sheweth me the wickedness of the 
^^WC ungodly : that there is no fear of Grod 
before his eyes. 

2 For he flattereth himself in his own 
sight : until his abominable sin be found 
out. 

3 The words of his mouth are unright- 
eous, and full of deceit : he hath left off to 
behave himself wisely, and to do good. 

4 He imagineth mischief upon his bed, and hath set himself in 
no good way : neither doth he abhor any thing that is evil. 

5 Thy mercy, Lord, reacheth unto the heavens : and thy 
faithfulness unto the clouds. 

6 Thy righteousness standeth like the strong mountains : thy 
judgments are like the great deep. 

Psalm xxxvi. — The contemplation of the world — the kriowledge of the real nature of sin — 
would be sufficient to teach any mind, not resisting the Spirit of God, the necessity of holiness as 
a means of good. Still more evident must it be, that the observation of the state of mankind is 
sufficient to demonstrate the enmity of the world to God; and that every wicked man is wan ting- 
in the discretion which might warn him in time to escape eternal ruin. This melancholy view 
of the state of the enemies of God teaches His chilcben to rejoice more and more in the blessed 
security which they enjoy. In His light they see light, and from the fulness of His love they 
" drink of pleasures as out of a river." Well, therefore, may they pray for the continuance of His 
favour, and cherish the grace which preserves them from the power of the ungodly ! 

507 




Day 7. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast ; How excellent 
is thy mercy, Grod : and the children of men shall put their 
trust under the shadow of thy wings. 

8 They shall be satisfied mth the plenteousness of thy house : and 
thou shalt give them di'ink of thy pleasures, as out of the river. 

9 For with thee is the well of life : and in thy light shall Ave 
see lio'ht. 

10 continue forth thy loving-kindness unto them that know 
thee : and thy righteousness unto them that are true of heart. 

11 let not the foot of pride come against me : and let not 
the hand of the ungodly cast me down. 

12 There are they fallen, all that work wickedness : they are 
cast down, and shall not be able to stand. 



EVENING PEAYER. 




Psal. xxx^^i. Noli ^juulari. 

EET not thyself because of the ungodly : 
neither be thou enA"ious against the evil 
doers. 

2 For they shall soon be cut down like 
the grass : and be withered even as the 
green herb. 

3 Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and 
be doing good : dwell in the land, and 
verily thou shalt be fed. 

4 Delight thou in the Lord : and he 
shall give thee thy heart's desire. 

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord, and 
put thy trust in him : and he shall bring 
it to pass. 

6 He shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light : and 
thy just dealing as the noon-day. 




PsAL.M xxxvii. — It is on the eternal distinctions between right and wrong — the true and the 
false — that the mind, enlightened by the Divine Spirit, may most confidently insist in its con- 
troversy with the world. The proudest triumphs of wickedness can be but for a season. Were it 
possible th-at they should establish themselves in the possession of pleasure, it would also be 
possible that things should change their nature, or assume properties which contradict their 
fundamental essence ; that discord should remain discord, but have the beauty of harmony; and 
that darkness should still be darkness but vet bestow lis-ht. The circumstances under which 

508 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 7. 



7 Hold thee still in the Lord, and abide patiently upon him : 
but grieve not thyself at him, whose way doth prosper, against 
the man that doetli after evil counsels. 

8 Leave off from wrath, and let go displeasure : fret not thj^self, 
else shalt thou be moved to do evil. 

9 Wicked doers shall be rooted out : and they that patiently 
abide the Lord, those shall inherit the land. 

10 Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone : 
thou shalt look after his place, and he shall be away. 

11 But the meek-spirited shall possess the earth : and shall be 
refreshed in the multitude of peace. 

12 The ungodly seeketh counsel against the just : and gnasheth 
upon him with his teeth. 

13 The Lord shall laugh him to scorn : for he hath seen that 
his day is coming. 

14 The ungodly have drawn out their sword, and have bent 
their bow : to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as 
are of a right conversation. 

15 Their sword shall go through their own heart : and tiieir 
bow shall be broken. 

16 A small thing that the righteous hath : is better than great 
riches of the ungodly. 

17 For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken : and the Lord 
upholdeth the righteous. 

18 The Lord knoweth the days of the godly : and their inherit- 
ance shall endure for ever. 

19 They shall not be confounded in the perilous time : and in 
the days of dearth they shall have enough. 

20 As for the ungodly, they shall perish ; and the enemies of 
the Lord shall consume as the fat of lambs : yea, even as the 
smoke, shall they consume away. 

21 The ungodly borroweth, and payeth not again : but the 
righteous is merciful, and liberal. 

22 Such as are blessed of God shall possess the land : and they 
that are cursed of him shall be rooted out. 

mankind liave been placed by the common fall liave rendered the temporary prevalence of evil one 
of the necessary conditions of their state. Hence the continual struggle between the higlier and 
the lower faculties of man ; and the painful trials to which, in this world, those who are endowed 
by Heaven with the principles of good are perpetually exposed. But the conflict has its appointed 
end; and the outer darkness must finally swallow up whatever now exalts itself against the 
sovereignty of good. 

509 



Day 7. 



THE PSALMS. 



23 The Lord ordereth a good man's going : and maketh liis 
wa}- acceptable to himself. 

24 Though he flill, he shall not be cast away : for the Lord 
npholdeth him Avith his hand. 

25 I have been young, and now am old : and yet saw I never 
the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread. 

26 The righteous is ever merciful, and lendeth : and his seed 
is blessed. 

27 riee from evil, and do the thing that is good : and dwell 
for evermore. 

28 For the Lord loveth the thing that is right : he forsaketh 
not his that be godly, but they are preserved for ever. 

29 The unrighteous shall be punished : as for the seed of the 
ungodly, it shall be rooted out. 

30 The righteous shall inherit the land : and dwell therein for 
ever. 

31 The mouth of the righteous is exercised in wisdom : and 
his tongue will be talking of judgement. 

32 The law of his God is in his heart : and his goings shall not 
slide. 

33 The ungodly seeth the righteous : and seeketh occasion to 
slay him. 

34 The Lord will not leave him in his hand : nor condemn him 
when he is judged. 

35 Hope thou in the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall pro- 
mote thee, that thou shalt possess the land : when the ungodly 
shall perish, thou shalt see it. 

36 1 myself have seen the ungodly in great power : and flourish- 
ing like a green bay-tree. 

37 I went by, and lo, he was gone : I sought him, but his 
place could no where be found. 

38 Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right : 
for that shall bring a man peace at the last. 

39 As for the trangressors, they shall perish together : and the 
end of the ungodly is, they shall be rooted out at the last. 

40 But the salvation of the righteous cometh of the Lord : who 
is also their strength in the time of trouble. 

41 And the Lord shall stand by them, and save them : he shall 
deliver them from the ungodly, and shall save them, because they 
put their trust in him. 

510 



THE EIGHTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 



9 l^MwM^^^ 




Bomine, ne in furore. 

UT me not to rebuke, Lord, in tliine 
anger : neither chasten me in thy heavy 
displeasure. 

2 For thine arrows stick fast in me : 
and thy hand presseth me sore. 

3 There is no health in my flesh, because 
of thy displeasure : neither is there any 

rest in my bones, by reason of my sin. 

4 For my wickednesses are gone over my head : and are 
like a sore burden, too heavy for me to bear. 

5 My w^ounds stink, and are corrupt : through my foolish- 



ness. 



that I go 



6 I am brought into so great trouble and misery 
mourning all the day long. 

Psalm xxxviii. — Eepentance, in its saddest horn- of confession, can find no stronger langimge 
than that here employed by the Psalmist. We feel awe-struck at the spectacle which a heart 
presents thus unfolding the secrets of its corruption. Yet, melancholy as the contemplation is 
when the sinfulness of om- nature forms the sole object of our thoughts, if we continue to pursue 
the same train of reflection as the Psalmist, feelings of consolation arise from our very sadness ; 
for the merciful Spirit of God comes to our aid : we are taught that there is a foimtain opened for 
the washing away of sins : and that, sad as our case is, we may still be enriched with the glories 
of a Divine inheritance. 

511 



Daij 8. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 For my loins are filled witli a sore disease : and there is no 
whole part in my body. 

^ 8 I am feeble, and sore smitten : I have roared for the very 
disquietness of my heart. 

9 Lord, thou knowest all my desire : and my groaning is not 
hid from thee. 

10 My heart panteth, my strength hath failed me : and the sight 
of mine eyes is gone from me. 

11 My lovers and my neighbours did stand looking upon my 
t]"ouble : and my kinsmen stood afar off. 

12 They also that sought after my life laid snares for me : and 
they that went about to do me evil talked of wiclvedness, and 
imagined deceit all the day long. 

13^ As for me, I was like a deaf man, and heard not : and as one 
that is dumb, who doth not open his mouth. 

14 I became even as a man that heareth not : and in whose 
mouth are no reproofs. 

15 For in thee, Lord, have I put my trust : thou shalt 
answer for me, Lord my God. 

16 I have required that they, even mine enemies, should not 
triumph over me : for when my foot slipped, they rejoiced greatly 
against me. 

17 And I, truly, am set in the plague : and my heaviness is 
ever in my sight. 

18 For I will confess my wickedness : and be sorry for my sin. 

19 But mine enemies live, and are mighty : and they that hate 
me wrongfully are many in number. 

20 They also that rew-ard evil for good are against me : because 
I foUow the thing that good is. 

21 Forsake me not, Lord my God : be not thou far from me. 

22 Haste thee to help me : O Lord God of my salvation. 

Psal. xxxix. Bixi, custodiam. 

SAID, I will take heed to my ways : that 
I offend not in my tongue. 

2 T will keep my mouth as it were with a 
bridle : while the ungodly is in my sight. 

3 I held my tongue, and spake nothing : 
I kept silence, yea, even from good words ; 
but it was pain and grief to me. 

4 My heart was hot within me, and wliile 
512 




THE PSALMS. 



Baij 8. 



I was thus musing the fire kindled : and at the last I spake with 
my tongue ; 

5 Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days : 
that L may be certified how long I have to live. 

6 Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long : and 
mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee ; and verily every 
man living is altogether vanity. 

7 For mfin walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself 
in vain : he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. 

8 And now. Lord, what is my hope : truly my hope is even in thee. 

9 Deliver me from all mine offences : and make me not a rebuke 
unto the foolish. 

10 I became dumb, and opened not my mouth : for it was thy 
doing. 

11 Take thy plague away from me : I am even consumed by the - 
means of thy heavy hand. 

12 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou 
makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting 
a garment : every man therefore is but vanity. 

13 Hear my prayer, Lord, and with thine ears consider mj 
calling : hold not thy peace at my tears. 

14 For I am a stranger with thee : and a sojourner, as all my 
fathers were. 

15 spare me a little, that I may recover my strength : before 
I go hence, and be no more seen. 

Psal. xl. Exjyedans ecTjjedavi. 

WAITED patiently for the Lord : and he 
inclined unto me, and heard my calling. 

2 He brought me also out of the horri- 
ble pit, out of the mire and clay : and set 
my feet upon the rock, and ordered my 
goings. 

3 And he hath put a new song in my 
mouth : even a thanksgiving unto our Grod. 

Psalm xxsix. — The consciousness of our own infirmities and sins should never fail to teach us 
the necessity of a humble mind. It is in the frequent recollection of om- weakness that we find 
the best reasons for perseverance in the use of the means of grace. By the same exercise also we 
learn to avoid all the provocations to pride, and whatever other dispositions may be contrary to 
the state of one who " has to work out his salvation with fear and trembling."' The sacrifice of 
temper which this may require will be more than repaid by the consolations that will follow ; for 
the Lord will not refuse to hear the mournings of a heart thus subdued ; nor will He leave it to 
itself, or alone with its sorrows, but will come unto it with the comforts of the heavenly Spirit. 

513 3 u 




Day 8. 



THE PSALMS. 



4 Many shall see it, and fear : and shall put their trust in the Lord. 

5 Blessed is the man that hath set his hope in the Lord : and 
turned not unto the proud, and to such as go about with lies. 

6 Lord my God, great are the wondrous works which thou 
hast done, like as be also thy thoughts which are to us-ward : and 
yet there is no man that ordereth them unto thee. 

7 If I should declare them, and speak of them : they should be 
more than I am able to express. 

8 Sacrifice, and meat-offering, thou wouldest not : but mine ears 
hast thou opened. 

9 Burnt- offerings, and sacrifice for sin, hast thou not required : 
then said I, Lo, I come. 

10 In the volume of the book it is written of me, that I should 
fulfil thy will, my Grod : I am content to do it ; yea, thy law is 
Avitliin my heart. 

Ill have declared thy righteousness in the great congregation : 
lo, I will not refrain my hps, Lord, and that thou knowest. 

12 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart : my talk 
hath been of thy truth, and of thy salvation. 

13 I have not kept back thy loving mercy and truth : from the 
great congregation. 

14 Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me, Lord : let thy 
loving-kindness and thy truth always preserve me. - 

1 5 Tor innumerable troubles are come about me ; my sins have 
taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up : yea, they are 
more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me. 

16 Lord, let it be thy pleasure to deliver me : make haste, 
Lord, to help me. 

17 Let them be ashamed, and confounded together, that seek 
after my soul to destroy it : let them be driven backward, and put 
to rebuke, .that wish me evil. 

Psalm xl. — This noble psalm has been interpreted prophetically by St. Paul himself. (Heb. x. 
7, 9.) The believer, in applying it to his own case even, finds it beautifully descriptive of his 
experiences and his desii-es. He has waited patiently for the Lord, and been blessed by His 
answer to prayer. A new song has been put into his mouth, and he feels that his state is one of 
peace and blessedness. The anointed Saviour was to enter into glory through much tribulation. 
His sorrows were to be proofs of His willingness to endm-e the full weight of the burden which 
sin had imposed upon mankind. He waited patiently for the hour of deliverance ; — it came, and 
brought Him glory : and that which was pre-eminently true in Christ is true also in His people. 
I^t them do God's work, or suffer m His cause, and He will not fail to hear and deliver them. 
The application of the psalm to Christ, made by the Apostle, teaches us, tirst, the inefScacy of 
the sacrifices of the Law ; for the Son of God alone could offer up a sufficient atonement, and, 
therefore, a body was prepared Him; and, secondly, the necessity of obedience, implied in the 
expression, " Mine ears hast thou opened." St. Paul has taken only the more striking parts of 
the pf^alm, and has quoted it simply as a general illustration of his argument. 

5] 4 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 8. 



say 



18 Let them be desolate, and rewarded with shame : that 
nnto me, Fie upon thee^ fie upon thee. 

19 Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee : and 
let such as love thy salvation say alway, The Lord be praised. 

20 As for me, I am poor and needy : but the Lord careth for me. 

21 Thou art my helper and redeemer : make no long tarrying, 
my God. 



EVENING PRAYER. 




Psal. xli. Beahis qui inteUigit. 

LESSED is he that considereth the poor 
and needy : the Lord shall deliver him in 
the time of trouble. 

2 The Lord ])reserve him, and keep 
him alive, that he may be blessed upon 
earth : and deliver not thou him into the 
will of his enemies. 

3 The Lord comfort him, when he lieth 
sick upon his bed : make thou all his bed 
in his sickness. 

4 I said. Lord be merciful unto me : 
heal my soul, for I have sinned against 
thee. 

5 Mine enemies speak evil of me : When 
shall he die, and his name perish ? 

6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity : and his heart 
conceiveth falsehood wuthin himself, and when he cometh forth he 
telleth it. 

7 All mine enemies v/hisper together against me : even against 
me do they imagine this evil. 

8 Let the sentence of guiltiness proceed against him : and now 
that he lieth, let him rise up no more. 

PtfALM XLI. — If we admire benevolence wherever practised with zeal and sincerity, why sJiouid 
we not admire it in Christ? And if to the consideration of His merdy to others we add tiiat of 
His goodness in our own case, the fruits to be looked for are love, praise, and obedience. A man 
who had spent his hfe in doing good, and at last been persecuted and betrayed by those whom 
he had most benefited, would be an object of om- sincerest sympathy. As such our blessed Ee- 
deemer is pointed out to us in this psalm ; for the ninth verse He applied to His own sorrows, 
when, at the Last Supper, he that had lifted up his heel against Him was eating of the bread 
wliich He had blessed. (John, xiii. 18.) 

515 



Dai/ 8. 



THE PSALMS. 




9 Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted : who did 
also eat of my bread, hath laid great wait for me. 

10 But be thou merciful unto me, O Lord : raise thou me up 
again, and I shall reward them. 

11 B}^ this I know thou favourest me : that mine enemy doth 
not triumph against me, 

12 And when I am in my health, thou upholdest me : and shalt 
set me before thy face for ever. 

13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel : world without end. 
Amen. 

Psal. xlii. Quemadmodum. 

^'^. im^' j^^'-- IKE as the hart desireth the water-brooks : 

TJ^P ^ so longeth my soul after thee, God. 

^5 2 My soul is athirst for God, yea, even 
for the living God : when shall I come to 
. s appear before the presence of God? 
i 3 My tears have been my meat day and 
night : . while they daily say unto me, 
" - -^^.^^^^^ ^1 / Where is now thy God? 

4 Now when I think thereupon, I pour 
out my heart by myself : for I went with the multitude, and brought 
them forth into the house of God ; 

5 In the voice of praise and thanksgiving : among such as keep 
holy-day. 

6 Why art thou so full of heaviness, my soul : and why art 
thou so disquieted within me ? 

T Put thy trust in God : for I will yet give him thanks for the 
help of his countenance. 

Psalm xlii.— This pathetic psahn is supposed to have been composed by David when he fled 
from Absalom, and took refuge in the country beyond Jordan. Sorrow-stricken by the ingratitude 
of his child, and exposed, as he was, to all the dangers and hardships of exile, his deepest sense 
of affliction arose from the loss of those spiritual comforts which he enjoyed when worshipping 
in the house of God with his faithful and loving people. The images with which he describes 
his feelings are the most beautiful and natural that could be chosen. They were presented to 
him by the objects which arose on his path as he traversed the solitudes of the wilderness. Grief 
had penetrated his soul, and rendered it alive to every circumstance that could increase the senti- 
ment of sadness. But trust in Divine mercy overcame every other feeling, and shed a ray of light 
over the darkness and the water-floods. Many as were the som-ces of affliction, he could ques- 
tion himself as to the reasonableness of his grief " Why art thou so full of heaviness, my 
soul : and why art thou so disquieted within me?" The answer brought peace : — " O put thy 
trust in God, for I will yet thauk Him, which is the help of my countenance and my God." The 
sorrows of David, as here described, typified the persecutions of the Church, and the distresses 
which its' members have, from time to time, liad to endure at the bands of the world. These 
afflictions may weigh heavily upon them, but they can never break their spirits, or deprive them 
of their consolations, so long as tlicy can look, witli the Psalmist, for the fulfilment of God"s pro- 
mises. 

616 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 8. 



8 My God, my soul is vexed within me : therefore will I remem- 
ber thee concerning the land of Jordan, and the little hill of Hermon. 

9 One deep calleth another, because of the noise of the water- 
pipes : all thy waves and storms are gone over me. 

10 The Lord hath granted his loving-kindness in the day-time : 
and in the night-season did I sing of him, and made my prayer 
unto the God of my life. 

Ill will say unto the God of my strength, Why hast thou for- 
gotten me : why go I thus heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me ? 

12 My bones are smitten asunder as with a sword : while mine 
enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth ; 

13 Namely, while they say daily unto me : Where is now thy 
God? 

14 Why art thou so vexed, my soul t and why art thou so 
disquieted within me ? 

15 put thy trust in God : for I will yet thank him, which is 
the help of my countenance, and my God. 




Psal. xliii. Judiea mea, Bens. 

lYE sentence with me, God, and defend 
my cause against the ungodly people : O 
deliver me from the deceitful and wicked 
^ man. 

2 For thou art the God of my strength, 
why hast thou put me from thee : and why 
go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth 
me ? 

3 send out thy light and thy truth, 
that they may lead me : and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to 
thy dwelling. 

4 And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God 
of my joy and gladness : and upon the harp will I give thanks unto 
thee, God, my God. 

5 Why art thou so heavy, my soul : and why art thou so dis- 
quieted within me ? 

6 put thy trust in God : for I will yet give him thanks, which 
is the help of my countenance, and my God. 

Psalm xlhi.— The sentiment of this psalm is the same as that of the former. But in the Ihird 
verse a petition is added, whicli expresses the most anxious desire of believers in all ages. TMierever 
they may be, the light and truth which their heavenly Father gives can alone lead them to His 
sanctuai-v and his dwelling. 

517 



THE NINTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER 




Psal. xliv. Deus, aurihus. 

E have heard with our ears, God, our 
fathers have told us :. what thou hast done 
in their time of old ; 

2 How thou hast driven out the heathen 
with thy hand, and planted them in : how 
thou hast destroyed the nations, and cast 
them out. 

3 For they gat not the land in possession through their 
own swQrd : neither was it their own arm that helped them ; 

4 But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy 
countenance : because thou liadst a favour unto them. 

Psalm xliv.— Tliis psalm is an address of the assembled Church of the people of God united 
togetner in a tmie of trial. They sing praises to their Maker for past instances of mercy, and 
declare then- faith in His power still to deliver them from the oppressions of the enemy. But the 
Lord either for the special purposes of His providence, or for the correcting of sin and error, 
secretly creeping m among them, has been pleased to withdraw, for a while, the invincible 
defences of His power. They are left to themselves; the adversary heaps daily scorn upon 
hem, and they seem ready to perish. But there is still remaining one sign of the Divine favour; 
tha which IS least Lkely to be recognized, but which in reality is the best and surest of all. 

Tliough all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget thee, nor behave ourselves frowardly in 
thy covenant 1 lie grace, which yet kept them in covenant with God, was equally a seal on the 
promises that He would never forsako them, and in itself an actual blessing, a means of comfort 
and 01 glory. 

518 



THE PSALMS. 



Daij 9. 



5 Thou art my King, God : send help unto Jacob. 

6 Through thee will we overthrow our enemies : and in thy 
Name will we tread them under, that rise up against us. 

7 For I will not trust in my bow : it is not my sword that shall 
help me ; 

8 But it is thou that savest us from our enemies : and puttest 
them to confusion that hate us. 

9 We make our boast of God all day long : and will praise thy 
Name for ever. 

10 But now thou art far off, and puttest us to confusion : and 
goest not forth with our armies. 

11 Thou makest us to turn our backs upon onr enemies : so that 
they which hate us spoil our goods. 

12 Thou lettest us be eaten up like sheep : and hast scattered us 
among the heathen. 

13 Thou sellest thy people for nought : and takest no money for 
them. 

14 Thou makest us to be rebuked of our neighbours : to 
be lauo^hed to scorn, and had in derision of them that are round 
about us. 

15 Thou makest us to be a by- word among the heathen : and 
that the people shake their heads at us. 

16 My confusion is daily before me : and the shame of my face 
hath covered me. 

17 For the voice of the slanderer and blasphemer : for the enemy 
and avenger. 

18 And though all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget 
thee : nor behave ourselves frowardly in thy covenant. 

19 Our heart is not turned back : neither our steps gone out of 
thy way; 

20 'No, not when thou hast smitten us into the place of dragons : 
and covered us with the shadow of death. 

21 If we have forgotten the Name of our God, and holden up 
om- hands to any strange god : shall not God search it out ? for he 
knoweth the very secrets of the heart. 

22 For thy sake also are we killed all the day long : and are 
counted as sheep appointed to be slain. 

23 Up, Lord, why sleepest thou : awake, and be not absent from 
us for ever. 

24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face : and forgettest our misery 
and trouble ? 

519 



Day 9. 



THE PSALMS. 



25 For our soul is brought low, even unto the dust : our belly 
cleaveth unto the m-ound. 

26 Arise, and help us : and deliver us for thy mercy's sake. 

Psal. xlv. Erudavit cor meum. 

Y heart is inditing of a good matter : I 
speak of the things which I have made 
unto the King. 

2 My tongue is the pen : of a ready 
writer. 

3 Thou art fairer than the children of 
men : full of grace are thy lips, because 
God hath blessed thee for ever. 

4 Gird thee with thy sword upon thy 
thigh, thou most Miglity : according to thy worship and renown. 

5 Good luck have thou with thine honour : ride on, because of 
the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness ; and thy right 
hand shall teach thee terrible thino-s. 

6 Thy arrows are very sharp, and the people shall be subdued 
unto thee : even in the midst amon^ the Ivincr''s enemies. 

T Thy seat, God, enclui-eth for ever : the sceptre of thy king- 
dom is a right sceptre. 

8 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity : wherefore 
God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness 
above thy fellows. 

9 All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia : out of 
the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. 

10 Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women : upon 
thy riglit hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought 
about with divers colours. 

11 Hearken, daughter, and consider, incline thine ear : forget 
also thine own people, and thy father's house. 

Psalm xlv. — This psalm is said to have been composed in honour of Solomon's marriage with 
the daughter of Pliaraoh. It is applied, in the literal sense, therefore, to the gloiT of the youthful 
sovereign, and of Ms consort. But prophetically and spiritually it describes the majesty of 
Christ as the King of heaven, and His marriage with the Church. Many of the expressions in 
the psalm are far too sublime to be interpreted in any other sense. It maj^ therefore, be conjec- 
tured that in this, as in other instances, the writer pui-posely described the events immediately 
occurring in language which, according to the spirit of the times, might be at once understood 
as prophetical, and as intended to carry the thoughts of those who heard it from the present to 
the future, — from tlie literal to the spiritual, — from the earthly to the heavenly. See Heb. i. 
8, 9, where the sublimer parts of the psalm are directly interpreted as referring to Christ. 

520 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 9. 



12 So shall the Kmg have pleasure in thy beauty : for he is 
thy Lord Gfod, and worship thou him. 

13 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift : hke as 
the rich also among the people shall make theh supplication before 
thee. 

14 The King's daughter is all glorious within : her clothing is 
of wrought gold. 

15 She shaU be brought unto the King in raiment of needle- 
work : the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company, and 
shaU be brought unto thee. 

16 With joy and gladness shall they be brought : and shall 
enter into the King's palace. 

17 Instead of thy fathers thou shalt have children : whom thou 
mayest make princes in all lands. 

18 1 will remember thy Name from one generation to another : 
therefore shall the people give thanks unto thee, world without end. 

Ps .1. xlvi. Deus noster refiigium, 

OD is our hope and strength : a very pre- 
sent help in trouble. 

2 Therefore wiU. we not fear, though the 
earth be moved : and though the hills be 
carried into the midst of the sea. 

3 Though the waters thereof rage and 
swell : and though the mountains shake 
at the tempest of the same. 

4 The rivers of the Hood thereof shall 
make glad the city of Grod : the holy place of the tabernacle of the 
most Highest. - 

5 God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed : 
Grod shaU help her, and that right early. 

6 The heathen make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved : 
but Grod hath shewed his voice, and the earth shall melt away. 

Psalm xlvi. — In the forty-fifth psalm the people of God pray to Him for help against their 
enemies ; but they lament the withdrawal of His favour as the great cause of their calamities. 
In this psalm also they speak of their troubles ; but it is with a cheerful and triumphant voice. 
What is it which gives such a different tone to expressions uttered under cii'cmnstances in all, but 
one respect, the same ? In the one instance God was not present with His people. " But now 
thou art far off; and puttest us to confusion, and goest not forth with our armies." In the other 
they could exclaim, " The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob is our refuge." And tliis 
it is which must ever make a vast distinction between the positive amount of sorrows sufiered by 
the servants of God at different periods. He may be pleased to try them with many outward 
reverses, but if they be careful to keep true to His Spirit, they will but rarely suffer the grief 
which bows down and breaks the heart. 

521 3 X 




Day 9. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 The Lord of hosts isT^ith us : the God of Jacob is our refuge. 

8 come hither, and behold the works of the Lord : what 
destruction he hath brought upon the earth. 

9 He niaketh wars to cease in all the world : he breaketh the 
bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burnetii the chariots 
in the fire. 

10 Be still then, and know that I am Grod : I will be exalted 
among the heathen, and I will be exalted in the earth. 

11 The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob is our 
refuge. 



EVENING PEAYER. 




Psal. xlvii. Omnes gentes, i:)Iaudite. 

CLAP your hands together, all ye j^eople : 
sing unto God with the voice of melody. 

2 Por the Lord is high and to be feared : 
he is the great King upon all the earth. 

3 He shall subdue the jjeople under us : 
and the nations under our feet. 

4 He shall choose out an heritage for 
us : even the worship of Jacob, whom he 
loved. 

5 God is gone up with a merry noise : 
and the Lord with the sound of the trump. 

6 sing praises, sing praises unto our 
God : sing praises, sing praises unto 
our King. 

7 For God is the King of all the earth : sing ye praises with 
understanding. 

8 God reigneth over the heathen : God sitteth upon his holy seat. 

9 The princes of the people are joined unto the people of the God 
of Abraham : for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the 
eai-th, as it were with a shield. 

Psalm XLvn. — This psalm is supposed to have been written in celebration of the removal of 
the ark into the temple ; but it might, with equal probability, be composed on any other occa- 
sion of triumjDh or festivity. It is considered by some commentators as having been composed, 
with the 46tli and the 48th, immediately after Cyrus had terminated, by his proclamation, the 
Babylonian captivity. Our Church uses it on Ascension Day ; and by ascribing the glory of 
which it speaks to the triumphant Saviour, teaches us its true interpretation. His x-ictory gives 
joy to all the tribes of the earth ; it has deprived every enemy that can assail us of his strength ; 
and by it the remotest nations of the world will at length be gathered together, and united to 
the first that He chose and blessed. 

522 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 9. 



Psal. xlviii. Magnus Bominus. 

EEAT is the Lord, and highly to be 
praised : in the city of our Grod, even upon 
his holy hill. 

2 The hill of Sion is a fair place, and 
the joy of the whole earth : upon the north- 
side lieth the city of the great King ; Grod is 
well known in her palaces as a sure refuge. 

3 Eor lo, the kings of the earth : are 
gathered, and gone by together. 

4 They marvelled to see such things : they were astonished, and 
suddenly cast down. 

5 Fear came there upon them, and sorrow : as upon a woman in 
her travail. 

6 Thou shalt break the ships of the sea : through the east- wind. 

7 Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord 
of hosts, in the city of our God : God upholdeth the same for ever. 

8 We wait for thy loving-kindness, God : in the midst of thy 
temple. 

9 God, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the 
world's end : thy right hand is full of righteousness. 

10 Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughter of Judali be 
glad : because of thy judgements. 

1 1 Walk about Sion, and go round about her : and tell the 
towers thereof 

12 Mark well her bulwarks, set up her houses : that ye may 
tell them that come after. 

13 For this God is our God for ever and ever he shall be our 
guide unto death. 

Psalm xlyiii. — The Church of God, established on the rock that can never be moved, excites 
equally the wonder and the envy of the world. It presents an aspect of tranquillity and hope 
that speaks to all hearts. The moral lustre which surrounds it now is noble and attractive in 
itself ; but it is felt to be the forerunner of a continually increasing grandeur, power, happiness, 
and sublime good. Hating it for its happiness, but refusing to accept of a share of its blessings 
on the terms on which it enjoys them itself, the powers of the world press around it as besiegers ; 
but convinced of its indestructible stability, they pass away terrified at their guilty folly and 
presumption. 

Psalm xlix. — The Psalmist here assumes the lofty style of a preacher of righteousness. Tliis 
he was authorised to do by the anointing of the heavenly Spirit ; and love to mankind and the 
experience which he had had of the power of holiness, prompted his discourse. His lesson teaches 
us to question the wisdom of our hearts when we place any confidence in the possessions of the 
world. It proves their worthlessness, by reminding us that they cannot help to redeem our souls 
from the penalties of sin. Even friendship itself cannot do this. And thus the mass of man- 
kind, vainly trusting to their goods, sink at last in utter helplessness, and lie in the deptlis of the 
grave like slaughtered sheep. Happy they who, with the Psalmist, have received from the 
heavenly Spirit a revelation of the true sources of life and glory. The counsel which he gives 
is prophecy as well as precept. By the energy of the grace that wrought within him, he foresaw 
and forefelt the day in which Death should be obliged to resign his empire to the Lord of Life. 

523 




Day 9. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. xlix. Audits hcec, omnes. 

HEAR ye this, all ye people : ponder it with 
your ears, all ye that dwell in the world ; 

2 High and low, rich and poor : one 
with another. 

8 My mouth shall speak of wisdom : and 
my heart shall muse of understanding. 

4 I will incline mine ear to the parable : 
and shew my dark speech upon the harp. 

5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of wickedness : and when 
the wickedness of my heels compasseth me round about ? 

6 There be some tliat put their trust in their goods : and boast 
themselves in the multitude of their riches. 

7 But no man may deliver his brother : nor make agreement 
unto God for him ; 

8 For it cost more to redeem their souls : so that he must let 
that alone for ever ; 

9 Yea, though he live long : and see not the grave. 

10 For he seeth that wise men also die, and perish together : as 
well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for other. 

1 1 And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever ; 
and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation to 
another ; and call the lands after their own names. 

12 Nevertheless, man will not abide in honour : seeing he may 
be compared unto the beasts that perish ; this is the way of them. 

13 This is their foolishness : and their posterity praise their saying. 

14 They lie in the hell like sheep, death gnaweth upon them, and 
the righteous shall have domination over them in the morning : 
their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre out of their dwelling. 

15 But God hath delivered my soul from the place of hell : for 
he shall receive me. 

16 Be not thou afraid, though one be made rich : or if the 
glory of his house be increased ; 

17 For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth : 
neither shall his pomp follow him. 

] 8 For while he lived, he counted himself an happy man : and so 
long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee. 

] 9 He shall follow the generation of his fathers : and shall never 
see light. 

20 Man being in honour hath no understanding : but is com- 
pared unto the beasts that perish. 
524 




THE TENTH DAY. 

MOENING PR AYE E 




Psal. 1. Deu2, deorum. 

HE Lord, even the most mighty God, hath 
spoken : and called the world, from the 
rising up of the sun, unto the going down 
thereofc 

2 Out of Sion hath Grod appeared : in 
perfect beauty. 

3 Our God shall come, and shall not 
keep silence : there shall go before him a consuming fire, and a 
mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him. 




Psalm l. — The Almighty is represented in this psalm as calling His creatures into His presence, 
and declaring, as well by His voice as by the numerous signs of His presence, the spiritual nature 
of His law, and of the obedience thereto which is alone acceptable in His sight. It is easy to 
offer the sacrifice of bulls and of goats ; but it is the pure heart which God loves to receive, and 
it is that which man is least willing or least prepared to give. The pretensions to holiness, so 
frequent in the world, but increase its guilt in the sight of God. This has been shown by St. Paul, 
who has alluded to the words of the Psalmist (Eom. ii. 19—23). The warning given is one of 
such importance, that it behoves every professor of religion to weigh it seriously in his heart. 
" O consider this, ye that forget God !" Consider it — ye .that boldly despise His laws ! His power 
was sufficient to drive a host of mighty angels from their ancient dwelling-places, and shall He 
not be able to punish the inhabitants of the earth? Consider — ye that hope to conceal the 
iniquities of your hearts, — the licentiousness of your lives,— from the decisions of His justice,that 
every thought is manifest in His sigixt, and that His eye is too pure to suffer the pollutions of sin 
to remain unpurged by fire, even though it be to the destruction of the sinner ! 

525 



Bay 10. 



THE PSALMS. 



4 He shall call the heaven froDi above : and the earth, that he 
may judge his people. 

5 Gather my saints together unto me : those that have made a 
covenant with me with sacrifice. 

6 And the heaven shall declare his righteousness : for God is 
Judge himself. 

7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak : I myself will testify 
against thee, Israel ; for I am God, even thy God. 

8 I w^ill not reprove thee because of thy sacrifices, or for thy 
bm-nt-offerings : because they were not alway before me. 

9 I will take no bullock out of thine house : nor he-goat out of 
thy folds. 

10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine : and so are the 
cattle upon a thousand hills. 

Ill know all the fowls upon the mountains : and the wild 
beasts of the field are in my sight. 

12 If I be hungry, I will not tell thee : for the whole world is 
mine, and all that is therein. 

13 Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls' flesh : and drink the 
blood of goats ? 

14 Offer unto God thanksgiving : and pay thy vows unto the 
most Highest. 

15 And call upon me in the time of trouble : so will I hear thee, 
and thou shalt praise me. 

16 But unto the ungodly said God : Why dost thou preach my 
laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth ; 

17 Whereas thou hatest to be reformed : and hast cast my words 
behind thee ? 

18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him : and 
hast been partaker with the adulterers. 

19 Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness : and with thy 
tongue thou hast set forth deceit. 

20 Thou satest, and spakest against thy brother : yea, and hast 
slandered thine own mother's son. 

2 1 These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue, and thou 
though test wickedly, that I am even such a one as thjself : but I 
will reprove thee, and set before thee the things that thou hast done. 

22 consider this, ye that forget God : lest I pluck you away, 
and there be none to deliver you. 

23 Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me : and 
to him that ordereth his conversation right will I shew the salva- 
tion of God. 

526 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 10. 



Psal. li. Miserere mei, Deiis. 

AYE mercy upon me, God, after thy 
great goodness : according to tlie multitude 
of thy mercies do away mine offences. 

2 Wash me throughly from my wicked- 
ness : and cleanse me from my sin. 

3 Por I acknowledge my faults : and 
my sin is ever before me. 

4 Against thee only have I sinned, and 
done this ^evil in thy sight : that thou 

mightest be justified in thy saying, and clear when thou art judged, 

5 Behold, I was shapen in wickedness : and in sin hath my 
mother conceived me, 

6 But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts : and shalt 
make me to understand wisdom secretly. 

7 Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : thou 
shalt wash me, and I shaH be whiter than snow. 

8 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness : that the bones 
which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

9 Turn thy face from my sins : and put out all my misdeeds. 

10 Make me a clean heart, O Grod : and renew a right spirit 
within me. 

11 Cast me not away from thy presence : and take not thy holy 
Spmt from me. 

12 give me the comfort of thy help again : and stablish me 
with thy free Spirit. 

Psalm li. — It is highly interesting and profitable to trace in the writings published under the 
Law, the veiled, or not yet clearly developed, features of the Gospel. In the present psalm, the 
acknowledgment of original sin is full and distinct : — " I was shapen in wickedness." On this is 
founded those confessions of infirmity, — of the tendencies to evil (otherwise unaccountable), — of 
melancholy resistances to ofters of grace, and the benign influences of the Divine Spirit, which 
most men are willing to make when they begin to consider narrowly the movements of their hearts. 
God's law throws a startling light upon the wastes and stormy seas of human nature. When once 
it has made itself known to the understanding, the mind in vain strives to escape from a conscious- 
ness of danger. The law remains unchangeable, like its Author ; and the soul, to be at peace, 
must be purified by the spirit of the law's holiness. " Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I 
shall be clean ;" — that is, I shall be cleansed from my otherwise incurable disease when Thou dost 
sprinkle me with the blood of the atoning sacrifice, and wash me with the waters of purification : 
— Christ's blood the one, and Christ's baptism the other. But the types of the law were not 
sufSciently clear for minds yearning after the assurance of Divine peace. The very Gospel itself, 
therefore, seems anticipated in the prayer of the Psalmist ; for leaving every shadow and figure, 
he hastens to the sublime reality, and exclaims, " 3Iake me a clean heart, and renew aright spirit 
within me." Tliis was said by David when sufi'ering under the most appalling sense of his 
natural weakness and corruption, 

527 




Day 10. 



THE PSALMS. 



13 Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked : and sinners 
shall be converted unto thee. 

14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, Grod, thou that art the 
Grod of my health : and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness. 

15 Thou shalt open my lips, Lord : and my mouth shall 
shew thy praise. 

1 6 For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee : but 
thou delight est not in burnt offerings. 

1 7 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit : a broken and contrite 
heart, God, shalt thou not despise. 

18 be favourable and gracious unto Sion : build thou the 
walls of Jerusalem. 

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, 
with the burnt- ofierings and oblations : then shall they ofier young 
bullocks upon thine altar. 

Psal. lii. Quid ghriaris ? 

HY boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant : 
^(^f^m that thou canst do mischief ; 
' f 2 Whereas the goodness of God : en- 
iS dureth yet daily ? 
f 3 Thy tongue imagineth wickedness : 

, ^ and with lies thou cuttest like a sharp razor. 
^ -^4 Thou hast loved unrighteousness more 

than goodness : and to talk of lies more 
than righteousness. 

5 Thou hast loved to speak all words that may do hurt : thou 
false tongue. 

6 Therefore shall God destroy thee for ever : he shall take thee, 
and pluck thee out of thy dwelling, and root thee out of the land of 
the living. 

7 The righteous also shall see this, and fear : and shall laugh 
him to scorn ; 

8 Lo, this is the man that took not God for his strength : but 
trusted unto the multitude of his riches, and strengthened himself 
in his wickedness. 

Psalm lii.— This psalm, it is supposed, was composed immediately after the events recorded in 
1 Sam. xxii., when Doeg, at the command of Saul, slew the priests of the Lord. It expresses the 
indignation of a virtuous mind at the sight of cruelty and injustice, and its noble confidence in 
the goodness of God, which sliall inevitably, at the last, destroy the wicked, however fierce and 
mighty in their power, and enricli the meek with blessings and eternal glory, though now obliged 
to suflt'or for awhile the oppression of the world. 

528 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 10. 



9 As for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God : 
my trust is in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever. 

10 I will always give thanks unto thee for that thou hast done : 
and I will hope in thy JSTame, for thy saints like it well. 



EVENING PKAYER 

Psal. liii. Dixit insijnens. 

HE foolish body hath said in his heart : 
There is no God. 

2 Corrupt are they, and become abo- 
minable in their wickedness : there is none 
that doeth good. 

3 God looked down from heaven upon 
the children of men : to see if there were 
any, that would understand, and seek after 
God. 

4 Bat they are all gone out of the way, 
they are altogether become abominable : 
there is also none that doeth good, no not 
one. 

5 Are not they without understanding 
eating up my people as if they would eat 

bread ? they have not called upon God. 

6 They were afraid where no fear was : for God hath broken the 
bones of him that besieged thee ; thou hast put them to confusion, 
because God hath despised them. 

7 Oh, that the salvation were given unto Israel out of Sion : 
Oh, that the Lord would deliver his people out of captivity ! 

8 Then should Jacob rejoice : and Israel should be right glad. 

Psalm Lm. — The only material difference between this psalm and fhe fourteenth is found in 
verse 6, and in the omission of the passage cited by St. Paul, Eom. iii. 13. 

Psalm liv. — The subject of this psalm is said to have been derived from the occurrences 
described in 1 Sam. xsiii. 19. David persecuted, at the same time, by those who used open force, 
and by those whose only hope was in their treachery, saw himself wonderfully delivered from 
both by the answer which God rendered to his earnest prayers. 

Psalm lv. — This psalm is supposed to be one of those composed by David when he fled from 
before Absalom. In his hour of trial he had none on earth to comfort him. God, therefore, was 
his sole refuge ; and he poured out his heart as one who felt that, unless his supplications were 
heard, he must be wholly overwhelmed. The recollection of sins committed in the day of 
prosperity against this his only friend, doubtlessly prevented him from enjoying that deep calm 

529 3 Y 




that work wickedness : 



Day 10. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. liv. Beus, in nomine. 

'im^''- ^ AYE me, O God, for thy Name's sake : 

and avenge me in thy strength. 

2 Hear my prayer, God : and hearken 
mito the words of my mouth. 

3 For strangers are risen up against 
me : and tyrants, which have not God 
hefore their eyes, seek after my soul. 

4 Behold, God is my helper : the Lord 
is with them that uphold my soul. 

5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies : destroy thou them 
in thy truth. 

6 An offering of a free heart will I give thee, and praise thy 
Name, Lord : because it is so comfortable. 

7 Tor he hath delivered me out of all my trouble : and mine 
eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. 




Psal. Iv. Exaudi, Deus. 




EAE my prayer, God : and hide not 
thyself from my petition. 

2 Take heed unto me, and hear me : 
how I mourn in my prayer, and am vexed. 

3 The enemy crieth so, and the ungodly 
cometh on so fast : for they are minded to 
do me some mischief ; so mahciously are 

__ they set against me. 

4 My heart is disquieted within me : 

the fear of death is fallen upon me. 

5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me : and an horrible 
dread hath overwhelmed me. 

6 And I said, that I had wings hke a dove : for then would 
I flee away, and be at rest. 

^vbicli .would otherwise have filled his soul. " My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of 
death is Mien upon me." Conscious repentance alone subdued the incursions of despan-, and the 
known mercy of God restored comfort to the spirit. The treachery of Ahithophel, alluded to m 
verses 12--15, was strikingly typical of that of Judas. David's assurance that the Lord would 
deliver him was fully realized ; the glory of Christ was vindicated against the treachery of Judas ; 
and in the triumphs of David and Christ every child of God sees prefigured his own happy 
deliverance from the power of the adversary. 
530 



THE PSALMS. 



Day ] 0. 



7 Lo, then would I get me away far off : and remain in the 
wilderness. 

8 I vronld make haste to escape : because of the stormy wind and 
tempest. 

9 Destroy their tongues, Lord, and divide them : for I have 
spied rmrighteousness and strife in the city. 

10 Day and night they go about within the walls thereof : mis- 
chief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. 

11 "Wickedness is therein : deceit and guile go not out of their 
streets. 

12 Tor it is not an open enemy, that hath done me this dis- 
honour : for then I could have borne it. 

13 Neither was it mine adversary, that did magnify himself 
against me : for then peradventure I would have hid myself from 
him. 

14 But it was even thou, my companion : my guide, and mine 
own familiar friend. 

15 We took sweet counsel together : and walked in the house 
of God as friends. 

1 6 Let death come hastily upon them , and let them go down quick 
into hell : for wickedness is in their dwelliugs, and among them. 

17 As for me, I will call upon God : and the Lord shall save me. 

18 In the evening, and morning, and at noon-day will I pray, 
and that instantly : and he shall hear my voice. 

19 It is he that hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle 
that was against me : for there were many with me. 

20 Yea, even God, that endureth for ever, shall liear me, and 
bring them down : for they will not turn, nor fear God. 

21 He laid his hands upon such as be at peace with him : and 
he brake his covenant. 

22 The words of his mouth were softer than butter, having war 
in his heart : his words were smoother than oil, and yet be they 
very swords. 

23 cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall nourish thee : 
and shall not suffer the righteous to fall for ever. 

24 And as for them : thou, God, shalt bring them into the pit 
of destruction. 

25 The blood-thirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half 
their days : nevertheless, my trust shall be in thee, Lord. 



THE ELEVENTH DAY. 

MOKNING PRAYER 





Psal. Ivi. Miserere mei, Bens. 

E merciful unto me, God, for man 
goeth about to devour me : lie is daily 
fighting, and troubling me. 

2 Mine enemies are daily in hand to 
swallow me up : for they be many that 
fight against me, thou most Highest. 

3 Nevertheless, though I am sometime 
afraid : yet put I my trust in thee. 

^ 4 1 will praise God, because of his word : I have put my 
II trust in God, and will not fear what flesh can do unto me. 

5 They daily mistake my words : all that they imagine is 
to do me evil. 



Psalm lvi.— This is another of the psalms said to have been composed by David, when he was 
continually in danger of being destroyed by Saul or the PhiHstines. The former hated him 
with a maddening jealousy, perverting his words, and misrepresenting the intention of his most 
virtuous designs ; the latter sought him with a common enmity against holiness, and were re- 
solved to destroy him because he was a servant of God. But the Lord saw his humility,— heard 
his prayers; and compassionating his griefs, so revealed to him the designs of His providence, 
that he could exclaim, even in tlie midst of his troubles, that his soul was delivered from death,' 
and his feet from falling. 

532 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 11. 



6 They hold all together, and keep themselves close : and mark 
my steps, when they lay wait for my soul. 

7 Shall they escape for their wickedness : thou, God, in thy 
displeasm-e shall cast them down. 

8 Thou tellest my flittings ; put my tears into thy bottle : are not 
these things noted in thy book ? 

9 Whensoever I call upon thee, then shall mine enemies be put 
to flight : this I know ; for God is on my side. 

10 In God's word will I rejoice : in the Lord's word will I 
comfort me. 

11 Yea, in God have I put my trust : I will not be afraid what 
man can do unto me. 

12 Unto thee, O God, will I pay my vows : unto thee will I 
give thanks. 

13 Tor thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet 
from falling : that I may walk before God in the hght of the hving. 

Psal. Ivii. Miserere mei, Bens. 

E merciful unto me, God, be merciful 
unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee : and 
under the shadow of thy wings shall be my 
refuge, until this tyranny be over-past. 

2 I will call unto the most high God : 
even unto the God that shaU perform the 
cause which I have in hand. 

3 He shall send from heaven : and save 
me from tlie reproof of him that would eat me up. 

4 God shall send forth his mercy and truth : my soul is among 
Hons. 

5 And I lie even among the children of men, that are set on fire : 
whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 

6 Set up thyself, God, above the heavens : and thy glory above 
ail the earth. 

Psalm oti.— David was probably in the cave of Engedi wlien lie composed this patlietic psalm. 
The firm and loving trust of a being in his God is, under any circumstances, a sublime and 
animating subject of contemplation. But the grandeur of the subject is greatly increased when 
the believer is, at the moment, exposed to the severest trials, and all the energies of faith, and 
whatever graces he may possess, have to be exerted to the uttermost. Such was David's case when 
he uttered the petitions contained in this psalm. His example ought to animate us to fresh 
exei-tions in the work of righteousness. Full of peace and satisfaction, the saints of old went on 
their way rejoicing, though the pit and the snare were ever before them. How sadly deficient 
must they be in faith who cannot rejoice in the blessings of the Almighty's love, when there is 
scarcely any drawbacks to the comforts and the tranquillity which it bestows ! 

533 




Daij 11. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 TLey have laid a net for my feet, and pressed down my soul : 
they have digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of 
it themselves. 

8 My heart is fixed, God, my heart is fixed : I will sing, and 
give praise. 

9 Awake up, my glory ; awake, lute and harp : I myself will 
awake right early. 

10 I will give thanks unto thee, Lord, among the people : and 
I will sing unto thee among the nations. 

11 Tor the greatness of thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens : 
and thy truth unto the clouds. 

12 Set up thyself, God, above the heavens : and thy glory 
above all the earth. 

Psal Iviii. 8i vere utic[ue. 




EE your minds set upon righteousness, 
O ye congregation : and do ye judge the 
thing that is right, O ye sons of men ? 

2 Yea, ye imagine mischief in your heart 
upon the earth : and your hands deal with 
wickedness. 

3 The ungodly are Iroward, even from 
their mother's womb : as soon as they are 
born, they go astray, and speak hes. 

4 They are as venomous as the poison of a serpent : even like 
the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears ; 

5 Which refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer : charm he 

never so wisely. 

6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouths; smite the jaw- 
bones of the Hons, O Lord : let them fall away like water that 
runneth apace ; and when they shoot their arrows let them be rooted 

out. 1 1 

7 Let them consume away like a snail, and be like the untimely 
fruit of a woman : and let them not see the sun. 

Psalm LTin.-Saul and his ministers are still supposed to be the theme of the Psalmist's 
complaints. David spoke from a full knowledge of their enormous wickedness— hut not merely 
of them. As he alludes prophetically to the Church when he speaks of the righteous of his own 
times so does he allude to the wicked of all ages when he describes the baseness ot a Doeg or 
an Ahithbphel. The very prayer which he offers up for their destruction is also prophetical and 
general, ratlicr than a particular imprecation of vengeance on individuals. He knew that (xod 
would at ki.gth oblige all men to own that His judgments are right, and that there is a reward 
for His persecuted people. 

534 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 11. 



8 Or ever your pots be made hot with thorns : so let indignation 
vex him, even as a thing that is raw. 

9 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance : he 
shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the ungodly. 

10 So that a man shall say, Yerily there is a reward for the 
righteous : doubtless there is a God that judge th the earth. 



EVENING PRAYER. 

Psal. lix. Eri]^e me de inimicis. 

ELIYEE me from mine enemies, God : 
defend me from them that rise up against 
me. 

2 deliver me from the wicked doers : 
and save me from the blood-thirsty men. 

3 For lo, they lie waiting for my soul : 
the mighty men are gathered against me, 
without any offence or fault of me, Lord. 

4 They run and prepare themselves 
without my fault : arise thou therefore to 
help me, and behold. 

5 Stand up, Lord God of hosts, thou 
God of Israel, to visit all the heathen : 

and be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness. 

6 They go to and fro in the evening : they grin like a dog, and 
run about through the city. 

7 Behold, they speak with their mouth, and swords are in their 
lips : lor who doth hear ? 

8 But thou, O Lord, shalt have them in derision : and thou shalt 
laugh all the heathen to scorn. 

9 My strength will I ascribe unto thee : for thou art the God of 
my refuge. 

Psalm lix. — It is conjectured that this psalm was composed by David on the occasion described 
1 Sam. xix. 11, that is, when Saul " Sent messengers unto David's house to watch him, and to slay 
him in the morning." But it applies equally to any of those occasions on which the enemies of 
God's people, unable to effect their purposes immediately, lie in wait for their victims with a stern 
and gloomy patience which shows how implacable is their revenge, — how insatiable their thirst 
for blood. Against no class of mankind have such cruelties been exercised as those which it has 
often fallen to the lot of God's faithful worshippers to suffer. The world is the executioner of 
Satan's will ; and it is against it, in this character, that the Psalmist prays, 

535 




Bay 11. 



THE PSALMS. 



10 God slieweth me his goodness plenteously : and God shall 
let me see my desire upon mine enemies. 

1 1 Slay them not, lest my people forget it : but scatter them 
abroad among the people, and put them down, Lord, our defence. 

12 For the sin of their mouth, and for the words of their lips, 
they shall be taken in their pride : and why ? their preaching is of 
cursing and lies. 

13 Consume them in thy wrath, consume them, that they may 
perish : and know that it is God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the 
ends of the world. 

14 And in the evening they will return : grin like a dog, and 
will go about the city. 

15 They will run here and there for meat : and grudge if they 
be not satisfied. 

16 As for me, I will sing of thy power, and will praise thy 
mercy betimes in the morning : for thou hast been my defence and 
refuge in the day of my trouble. 

17 Unto thee, my strength, will I sing : for thou, God, art 
my refuge, and my merciful God. 

Psal. Ix. Beus, rej^uUsti nos. 

GOD, thou hast cast us out, and scattered 
us abroad : thou hast also been displeased ; 
turn thee unto us again. 

2 Thou hast moved the land, and divided 
it : heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh. 

3 Thou hast shewed thy people heavy 
things : thou hast given us a drink of 
deadly wine. 

4 Thou hast given a token for such as 
fear thee : that they may triumph because of the truth. 

Psalm lx.— This is supposed by some to be one of those national songs in which David cele- 
brated his triumphs over the enemies of his throne, and brought first one people, and then another, 
to acknowledge his righteous rule. (See 2 Sam. v. and viii.) Others attribute it to the reign of 
.Tehoshaphat, and suppose that it refers to the season when he was preparing to reduce the rebellious 
Edomites. The Psalmist describes Ephraim and Judah according to their particular characteristics, 
the one abounding in men of war, the other enjoying the privilege spoken of in Genesis xlix.^ 10. 
— " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Sliiloh 
come." By Gilead is to be understood the tribes of Gad and Eeuben ; and the expressions 
applied to Moab and Edom indicate the contempt which they would reap as the fruit of their 
hostility to God and His people. Philistia is exhorted to rejoice as being set free from the ravages 
of idolatry and wickedness. This gladdening anticipation of approaching conquests is properly 
the Christian's enjoyment at all periods. He knows that, sooner or later, all the kingdoms of 
the eartli will become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ. 

536 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 11. 



5 Therefore were thy beloved delivered : help me with thy right 
hand, and hear me. 

6 G-od hath spoken in his hohness, I will rejoice, and divide 
Sichem : and mete out the valley of Succoth. 

7 Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine : Ephraim also is the 
strength of my head ; Judah is my law-giver ; 

8 Moab is my wash-pot ; over Edom will I cast out my shoe : 
Philistia, be thou glad of me. 

9 Who will lead me into the strong city : who will bring me 
into Edom ? 

1 Hast not thou cast us out, God : wilt not thou, God, go 
out with our hosts ? 

11 be thou our help in trouble : for vain is the help of man. 

12 Through God will we do great acts ; for it is he that shalL 
tread down our enemies. 



Psal. Isi. Exaudi, Beus. 




give ear unto 




EAR my crying, O God 
my prayer. 

2 Erom the ends of the earth will I call 
upon thee : when my heart is in heaviness. 

3 set me up upon the rock that is 
higher than I : for thou hast been my 
hope, and a strong tower for me against 
the enemy. 

4 I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever : 
and my trust shall be under the covering of thy wings. 

5 For thou, Lord, hast heard my desires : and hast given an 
heritage unto those that fear thy Name. 

6 Thou shalt grant the King a long life : that his years may 
endure throughout all generations. 

7 He shall dwell before God for ever : prepare thy loving 
mercy and faithfulness,- that they may preserve him. 

8 So will I alway sing praise unto thy JSTame : that I may daily 
perform my vows. 

Psalm lxi. — This is another of the psalms said to have been composed b}^ David in his flight 
from Absalom. Wherever he was, or however his heart might be oppressed witli heaviness, he 
could find comfort in God. The rock of salvation was nigh at hand, because God was with him. 
His presence was the tabernacle in which he could still dwell, though far from Jerusalem ; and 
His blessing an everlasting heritage of which no enemy could deprive him. The whole is 
eminently true of Christ, contemplated as the King of the spiritual Israel, and struggling against 
the powers of darkness. 

537 3 z 



THE TWELFTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 





'A 



-If 




L 



sort of you; yea, 
broken hedge. 

4 Their device 
exalt : their delig 
mouth, but curse Avith 
5 Nevertheless, my 
is in him. 



Psal. Ixii. NonneBeof 

Y soul truly waiteth still upon God : for 
of him Cometh my salvation. 

2 He verily is my strength and my sal- 
vation : he is my defence, so that I shall 
not greatly fall. 

3 How long will ye imagine mischief 
against every man : ye shall be slain all the 

as a tottering wall shall ye be, and Hke a 

is only how to put him out whom. God will 
ht is'^in lies; they give words with their 
their heart. 

soul, wait thou still upon God : for my hope 



PsAL^l Lxn.— Trust iu God is still the happy theme of the Psalmist ; and it is that upon which 
we have the greatest of all reasons to wish to be able to fix our thoughts. The heart finds ni tlie 
knowledge of Divine love a source of perpetual dehght. Doubts are resolved m the fervent 
assurance of the power of good ; and temptations to wrong are resisted by the conviction that 
this power belongs to God alone, and is but the exercise of His beneficent will. 
538 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 12. 



6 He truly is my strength and my salvation : he is my defence, 
so that I shall not fall. 

7 In God is my health, and my glory : the rock of my might, and 
in God is my trust. 

8 put your trust in him alway, ye people i pour out your hearts 
before him, for God is our hope. 

9 As for the children of men, they are but vanity : the children 
of men are deceitful upon the weights, they are altogether lighter 
than vanity itself, 

10 trust not in wrong and robbery, give not yourselves unto 
vanity : if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. 

1 1 God spake once, and twice I have also heard the same : that 
power belongeth unto God ; 

12 And that thou, Lord, art merciful : for thou re wardest every 
man according to his work. 

Psal. Ixiii. Beus, Beus mens. 

GOD, thou art my God : early will I seek 
thee. 

~% 2 My soul thirstetli for thee, my flesh 

also longeth after thee : in a barren and 
dry land where no water is. 

3 Thus have I looked for thee in lioli- 
ness : that I might behold thy power and 
glory. 

4 For thy loving-kindness is better than 
the life itself : my lips shall praise thee. 

5 As long as I live will I magnify thee on this manner : and lift 
up my hands in thy Name. 

6 My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and 
fatness : when my mouth praiseth thee with joyful lips. 

7 Have I not remembered thee in my bed : and thought upon 
thee when I was waking ? 

Psalm lxih. — To know God is not tlie same thing as to have Him dwelling in the soul by 
the Holy Spirit. David knew God at all times, or he could not have sought Him with such 
earnest prayers and crying, and that even in seasons of direst temptation. But he desired to 
feel the inexpressible consolations of His presence; — to experience the gracious power of His 
mighty working in the heart ;— to feel that He was enlightened with the light of His living truth, 
and changed and reanimated by His Spirit. Hence the beautiful and passionate expressions, 
— " O God ! thou art my God : early will I seek thee ! My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh 
also longeth after thee : in a barren and dry land wliere no water is ! " aild " Thy loving-kindness 
is better than life itself! " How sad must be our. state when, instead of being able thus to address 
God, we feel that we scarcely care to know Him ! 

539 




Day 12. 



THE PSALMS. 



8 Because thou hast been my lielper : therefore under the shadow 
of thy wmgs will I rejoice. 

9 My soul hangeth upon thee : thy right hand hath upliolden 
me. 

10 These also that seek the hurt of my soul : they shall go under 
the earth. 

11 Let them fall upon the edge of the sword : that they may be 
a portion for foxes. 

12 But the King shall rejoice in God ; all they also that swear 
by him shall be commended : for the mouth of them that speak lies 
shall be stopped^ 



Psal. Ixiv. Exaudi^ Beus. 




EAE my voice, God, in my prayer : 
preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 

2 Hide me from the gathering together 
of the fro ward : and from the insurrection 
of wicked doers ; 

3 Who have whet their tongue like a 
sword : and shoot out their arrows, even 
bitter words ; 

4 That they may privily shoot at him 
that is perfect : suddenly do they hit him, and fear not. 

5 They encourage themselves in mischief : and commune among 
themselves how they may lay snares, and say that no man shall see 
them. 

6 They imagine wickedness, and practise it : that they keep 
secret among themselves, every man in the deep of his heart. 

7 But God shall suddenly shoot at them with a swift arrow : that 
they shall be wounded. 

8 Yea, their own tongues shall make them fall : insomuch that 
whoso seeth them shall laugh them to scorn. 

9 And all men that see it shall say, This hath God done : for 
they shall perceive that it is his work. 

10 The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord, and put his trust in 
him : and all they that are true of heart shall be glad. 



Psalm lxiv. — The Psalmist here complains not so much of open violence, and of the dangers 
resulting from the persecutions of the powerful, as of the distresses borne by an upright mind 
when assailed by base and venomous falsehood. In this species of calamity, the God of truth 
must ever be the best and readiest refuge. 

540 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 12. 



EVENING PRAYEE. 





Psal. Ixv. Te decei hymnus. 

HOU, God, art praised in Sion : and 
unto thee shall the vow be performed in 
Jerusalem. 

2 Thou that hearest the prayer : unto 
thee shall all flesh come. 

3 My misdeeds prevail against me : 
be thou merciful unto our sins. 

4 Blessed is the man, whom thou 
J choosest, and receivest unto thee : he shall 

dwell in thy court, and shall be satisfied 
with the pleasures of thy house, even of 
thy holy temple. 

5 Thou shalt shew us wonderful things 
in thy righteousness, God of our salvation : thou that art the hope 
of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea. 

6 Who in his strength settetli fast the mountains : and is girded 
about with power. 

7 Who stilleth the raging of the sea : and the noise of his waves, 
and the madness of the people. 

8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth shall 
be afraid at thy tokens : thou that makest the outgoings of the 
morning and evening to praise thee. 

9 Thou visitest the earth, and blesseth it : thou makest it very 
plenteous. 

10 The river of God is full of water : thou preparest their corn, 
for so thou providest for the earth. 

11 Thou waterest her furrow^s, thou sendest rain into the little 
valleys thereof : thou makest it soft with the drops of rain, and 
blessest the increase of it. 



Psalm lxv.— TKis psalm was evidently composed in a period of gladness and festivity, and was 
sung at the Feast of Tabernacles ; yet it begins with a confession of sin and helplessness. The 
heart of the worshipper was thereby lightened of a burden, under the pressure of which it could 
have responded to no song of praise. Nothing can be more refreshing than the contemplation 
of nature as the domain of the God of grace. Viewed as under His continual governance every 
gleam of sunshine conveys tidings of mercy to the heart. The fruitful seasons-the operations 
of the elements— the streams and dews that do the work of Heaven— are signs that every chM 
of God is taught, from the very infancy of his new life, to study and interpret 

541 



Day 12. 



THE PSALMS. 



12 Thou crownest the year Avitli thy goodness : and thy clouds 
drop fatness. 

13 They shall drop upon the dwellings of the wilderness : and 
the little hills shall rejoice on every side. 

14 The folds shall be full of sheep : the valleys also shall stand 
so thick with corn, that they shall laugh and sing. 

Psal. Ixvi. Jubilate Deo. 




BE joyful in God, all ye lands : sing 
praises unto the honour of his Name, make 
his praise to be glorious. 

2 Say unto Grod, how wonderful art 
thou in thy works : through the greatness 
of thy power shall thine enemies be found 
liars unto thee. 

3 Por all the world shall worship thee : 
sing of thee, and praise thy Name. 

4 come hither, and behold the works of God : how wonderful 
he is in his doing toward the children of men. 

5 He turned the sea into dry land : so that they went through 
the water on foot ; there did we rejoice thereof. 

6 He ruleth with his power for ever ; his eyes behold the people : 
and such as will not believe shall not be able to exalt themselves. 

7 O praise our God, ye people : and make the voice of his praise 
to be heard ; 

8 Who holdeth our soul in life : and suffereth not our feet to 
slip. 

9 For thou, God, hast proved us : thou also hast tried us, like 
as silver is tried. 

10 Thou broughtest us into the snare : and laidest trouble upon 
our loins. 

Psalm lxvi.— The various nations of the earth are here called upon to join in the praises of 
the Universal and Almighty Father. As an argument for their obeying the summons, they are 
reminded of His wonderful doiags. On His hand rests the whole weight of the universe ; and at 
His wUl the most wonderful of its laws become suspended. The providence of this^ Eternal Ruler 
bows everything to its purposes ; and while nations are moved to and fro at His bidding, not one 
of the innumerable creatures that exist escapes His separate notice, or is left without His par- 
ticularizing mercy. Called to worship sucli a God, what people, or who, would refuse to go into 
His house, and offer Him the grateful sacrifice of their hearts ? Tlie hour we may hope is coming 
wlien the psalm will have its noblest interpretation in the prophetical conversion of all the 
nations of the earth. 

542 



THE PSALMS. 



JDaij 12. 



1 1 Thou sufFeredst men to ride over our heads : we went through 
fire and water, and thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. 

12 I will go into thine house with burnt-offerings : and will pay 
thee my vows, which I promised with my lips, and spake with my 
mouth, when I was in trouble. 

13 1 will offer unto thee fat burnt-sacrifices, with the incense of 
rams : I will offer bullocks and goats. 

14 come hither, and hearken, all ye that fear God : and T will 
tell you what he hath done for my soul. 

15 1 called unto him with my mouth : and gave him praises 
with my tongue. 

1 6 If I incline unto wickedness with mine heart : the Lord will 
not hear me. 

17 But God hath heard me : and considered the voice of my 
prayer. 

18 Praised be God who hath not cast out my prayer : nor turned 
his mercy from me. 

Psal Ixvii. Beus misereahir. 

OL be merciful unto us, and bless us : 
and shew us the light of his countenance, 
and be merciful unto us ; 

2 That thy way may be known upon 
earth : thy saving health among all nations. 

3 Let the people praise thee, God : 
yea, let all the people praise thee. 

4 let the nations rejoice and be glad; 
for thou shall judge the folk righteously, 

and govern the nations upon earth. 

5 Let the people praise thee, God : let all the people praise 
thee. 

6 Then shall the earth bring forth her increase : and God, even 
our own God, shall give us his blessing. 

7 God shall bless us : and all the ends of the world shall fear 
him. 

Psalm Lxvn. — This short but beautiful psalm was one of those used at the Feast of Taber- 
nacles, and directed the hearts and thoughts of the worshippers to the times of refreshing when 
God should be everywhere worshipped, and the reign of the long-desired Messiah established in 
peace and blessedness. For the evangelical interpretation of this and similar psalms, St. Paul 
has given us a sublime example in Kom. viii. 18— 23, where the emancipation of universal nature 
is represented as awaiting that of the hunian soul. 

543 




THE THIETEENTH DAY. 



MOENING PRAYER. 




Psal. Ixviii. Exurgat Deus. 

ET God arise, and let his enemies be scat- 
tered : let them also that hate him flee 
before him. 

2 Like as the smoke vanisheth, so shalt 
thou drive them away : and like as wax 
melteth at the fire, so let the ungodly perish 
at the presence of Grod. 
3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God : let 
them also be merry and joyful. 



2 Psalm lxvih. — The language of tliis psalm is equally mysterious and sublime. On whatever 
occasion it was composed, whether on the removal of the ark to Mount Sion, or when the people 
were looking for approaching deliverance from captivity, it is one of those magnificent songs of 
national joy which can only be equalled by the other hymns of God's own chosen people. The 
praise here rendered Hirn has respect to His incommunicable glory as Jah, or Jehovah, the self- 
existent Eternal One ; but it represents Him in all the gentle operations of tenderness and love, as 
well as in the manifestations of power. Israel conquered under His banners ; and its triumphs 
and its laws were proclaimed by multitudes of heralds to the surrounding nations. Though its 
people had lien among the pots, that is, in the clay-pits of Egypt, they were henceforth to be re- 
si:)lendent in glory. Captivity was carried captive by the power and majesty of God, and, en- 
dowed by Him with the most precious gifts of wisdom, was to rule over His enemies with a 
sceptre of His own bestowing. St. Paul has taught us to apply the whole prophetically to the 
triumphs of Christ, and the consequent deliverance of His people from the worse tlian Egyptian 
bondage — the servitude of sin and the world. (See Ephes, iv. 8.) 

544 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 13. 



4 sing nnto God, and sing praises unto his Name : magnify 
him that rideth upon the heavens, as it were upon an horse ; praise 
him in his Name JAH, and rejoice before him. 

5 He is a Father of the fatherless, and defendeth the cause of the 
widows : even God in his holy habitation. 

6 He is the God that maketh men to be of one mind in an 
house, and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity : but letteth the 
runagates continue in scarceness. 

7 God, when thou wentest forth before the people : when thou 
wentest through the wilderness, 

8 The earth shook, and the heavens dropped at the presence of 
God : even as Sinai also was moved at the presence of God, who is 
the God of Israel. 

9 Thou, God, sentest a gracious rain upon thine inheritance : 
and refreshedst it when it was weary. 

10 Thy congregation shall dwell therein : for thou, God, hast 
of thy goodness prepared for the poor. 

11 The Lord gave the word : great was the company of the 
preachers. 

12 Kings with their armies did flee, and were discomfited : and 
they of the household divided the spoil. 

13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the 
wings of a dove : that is covered with silver wings, and her feathers 
like gold. 

14 When the Almighty scattered kings for their sake : then were 
they as white as snow in Salmon. 

15 As the hill of Basan, so is God's hill : even an high hill, as 
the hill of Basan. 

16 Why hop ye so, ye high hills ? this is God's hill, in the which 
it pleaseth him to dwell : yea, the Lord will abide in it for ever. 

17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of 
angels : and the Lord is among them, as in the holy place of Sinai. 

18 Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive, 
and received gifts for men : yea, even for thine enemies, that the 
Lord God might dwell among them, 

19 Praised be the Lord daily : even the God who helpetli us, and 
poureth his benefits upon us. 

20 He is our God, even the God of whom cometh salvation : God 
is the Lord, by whom w^e escape death. 

21 God shall wound the head of his enemies : and the hairy scalp 
of such a one as goeth on still in his wickedness. 

545 4 A 



Daij 13. THE PSALMS. 

22 The Lord bath said, I will bring my people again, as I did 
from Basan : mine own will I bring again, as I did sometime from 
the deep of the sea. 

23 That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies : 
and that the tongue of thy dogs may be red through the same. 

24 It is well seen, God, how thou goest : how thou, my Grod 
and King, goest in the sanctuary. 

25 The singers go before, the minstrels follow after : in the midst 
are the damsels playing with the timbrels, 

26 Give thanks, Israel, unto God the Lord in the congrega- 
tions : from the ground of the heart. 

27 There is little Benjamin their ruler, and the princes of Judah 
their counsel : the princes of Zabulon, and the princes of NephthaH. 

28 Thy God hath sent forth strength for thee : stabhsh the thing, 
God, that thou hast wrought in us, 

29 For thy temple's sake at Jerusalem : so shall kings bring 
presents unto thee. 

30 When the company of the spear-men, and multitade of the 
mighty are scattered abroad among the beasts of the people, so that 
they humbly bring pieces of silver : and when he hath scattered the 
people that dehght in war ; 

31 Then shall the princes come out of Egypt : the Morians' land 
shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. 

32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth : sing praises 
unto the Lord ; 

33 Who sitteth in the heavens over all from the beginning : lo, 
he doth send out his voice, yea, and that a mighty voice. 

34 Ascribe ye the power to God over Israel : his worship, and 
strength is in the clouds. 

35 God, wonderful art thou in thy holy places : even the God 
of Israel; he will give strength and power unto his people; blessed 
be God. 

Psalm lxix —This psalm is of the same character as the twenty-second, and is descriptive of 
the sufferings of onr Lord. The most pathetic complaints made by a being conscious of individual 
sin became tar more sad when used by One who fUd no sin, and in whose mouth there was no guile. 
If David could complain because things were laid to his charge which he had never done, yet he 
could not plead that he had not committed many other offences-he could not pretend that he 
was free from corruption : but Chiist had never felt the tainting touch of sin, and, when accused 
of wrong, could plead a perfect and unchangeable righteousness. It is a subject of melancholy 
reflection that the sorrows described by the Psalmist, both in his own case and prophetically in 
respect to Christ, are such as arise only from the world's hatred to holiness. "They hate me 
without a cause," is the sad exclamation of the servant of God ; and when passing from the view 
of what pertains to himself, and looking for reasons to explain their enmity in things beyond hmi, 
hf makes the yet more distressing discovery, that it is only because he loves and serves God with 

546 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 13. 



EVENING PRAYER, 

Psal. Ixix. Scdvum me fac. 

<^ AYE me, Grod : for the waters are 

come in, even unto my soul. 
: . l| 2 1 stick fast in tlie deep mire, where no 

ground is : I am come into deep waters, so 
that the floods run over me. 

3 I am weary of crying ; my throat is 
dry : my sight faileth me for waiting so 
long upon iTxj God. 

4 They that hate me without a cause are 
more than the hairs of my head : they that 
are mine enemies, and would destroy me 
guiltless, are mighty. 

5 I paid them the things that I never 
took : God, thou knowest my simpleness, and my faults are not hid 
from thee. 

6 Let not them that trust in thee, O Lord God of hosts, be 
ashamed for my cause : let not those that seek thee be confounded 
through me, Lord God of Israel. 

7 And why ? for thy sake have I suffered reproof : shame hath 
covered my face. 

8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren : even an alien unto 
mj mother's children. 

9 For the zeal of thine house hath even eaten me : and the 
rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me. 

10 I wept, and chastened myself with fasting : and that was 
turned to my reproof. 

Ill put on sackcloth also : and they jested upon me. 

12 They that sit in the gate speak against me : and the drunk- 
ards make songs upon me, 

13 But, Lord, I make my prayer unto thee : in an acceptable 
time. 

an -untiring spirit that tliey desire Ms death.. " The zeal of thine house hath even eaten me :" that 
is, "the cause of all my afflictions is the fervent zeal with which I am seeking- to promote the 
spiritual worship of God." The applications of this psalm to Christ are frequent, and clearly 
indicate its prophetical character. (See John i. 11 ; ix. 29; viii. 48. John ii. 17. Rom. x v. 3. 
Mattli. xxvii. 34. Acts i. 20.) It is allowed hy several learned commentators that the impreca- 
tions from verse 23 to verse 29, and those in other psalms, may be properly translated as predic- 
tions rather than curses. • 

547 




Day 13. 



THE PSALMS. 



14 Hear me, God, in the multitude of thy mercy : even in the 
truth of thy salvation. 

15 Take me out of the mire, that I sink not : let me be 
delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 

16 Let not the water-Hood drown me, neither let the deep 
swallow me up : and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 

17 Hear me, Lord, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable : 
turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies. 

18 And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble : 
haste thee and hear me. 

1 9 Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it : deliver me, because 
of mine enemies. 

20 Thou hast known my reproof, my shame, and my dishonour : 
mine adversaries are all in thy sight. 

21 Thy rebuke hath broken my heart ; I am full of heaviness : I 
looked for some to have pity on me, but there was no man, neither 
found I any to comfort me. 

22 They gave me gall to eat : and when I was thirsty they gave 
me vinegar to drink. 

23 Let their table be made a snare to take themselves withal : 
and let the things that should have been for their wealth be unto 
them an occasion of falling. 

24 Let their eyes be blinded, that they see not : and ever bow 
thou down their backs. 

25 Pour out thine indignation upon them : and let thy wrathful 
displeasure take hold of them. 

26 Let their habitation be void : and no man to dwell in their 
tents. 

27 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten : and they 
talk how they may vex them whom thou hast wounded. 

28 Let them fall from one wickedness to another : and not come 
into thy righteousness. 

29 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living : and not be 
written among the righteous. 

30 As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness : thy help, 
O God, shall lift me up. 

31 I will praise the Name of God with a song : and magnify it 
with thanksi^iving. 

32 This also shall please the Lord : better than a bullock that 
hath horns and hoofs. 

548 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 13. 



33 The humble shall consider this, and be glad : seek ye after 
God, and your soul shall live. 

34 For the Lord heareth the poor : and despiseth not his pri- 
soners. 

35 Let heaven and earth praise him ; the sea, and all that moveth 
therein. 

36 For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah : that 
men may dwell there, and have it in possession. 

37 The posterity also of his servants shall inherit it : and they 
that love his ISTame shall dwell therein. 



Psal. Ixx. Deus in adjutorium. 




ASTE thee, God, to deliver me : make 
haste to help me, Lord. 

2 Let them be ashamed and confounded 
that seek after my soul : let them be turned 
backward and put to confusion that wish 
me evil, 

3 Let them for their reward be soon 
brought to shame : that cry over me. There, 
there. 

4 But let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee : and 
let all such as delight in thy salvation say alway, The Lord be 
praised. 

5 As for me, I am poor and in misery : haste thee unto me, 
God. 

6 Thou art my helper, and my redeemer : Lord, make no long 
tarrying. 



Psalm lxx, — This psalm, with slight variations, forms the conclusion of the fortieth psalm. 
It is a prayer for deliverance from no ordinary enemies. Literally, the life of the supplicant was 
sought ; spiritually, the soul is the prey desired ; and God, in either case, is the only sufficient 
help. The anxiety expressed by the Psalmist may be traced in the language of the world, wlien 
there is any prospect of temporal danger. It is then instinctively felt that the Almighty could 
afford protection ; and in the first moment of surprise, the heart pours out repeated cries for mercy. 
"Haste thee, O God, to deliver me !" may be heard from lips w^hicli in calm and prosperity never 
breathed a prayer ; and, for the instant, the supplicant might be mistaken for one wlio had learned 
to cling with all his heart to God. But even in matters of worldly anxiety, this impulse, which 
suddenly raises the thoughts to heaven, soon loses its force : the mind speedily resumes its 
ordinary habit of resting on the visible only, and God and His power are virtually forgotten. If 
this be the case in the season of earthly calamity, how little reason have we to look for signs of 
any deep or influential regard to God wheif the soul only is concerned, or those interests only 
are in view which relate to a future, and to a world unknown ! The soul itself is forgotten; 
and it can be no wonder, therefore, if God be not sought to save it. 



549 



THE FOURTEENTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 




Psal. Ixxi. In te, Bomine, speravi. 

N thee, Lord, have I put my trust, let 
me never be put to confusion : but rid 
me, and deliver me, in thy righteousness ; 
incline thine ear unto me, and save me. 

2 Be thou my strong hold, whereunto I 
may alway resort : thou hast promised to 
help me, for thou art my house of defence 
and mv castle. 



Psalm lxxi.— David composed this psalm in liis old age, and even then did he still experience 
the sad effects of tlie sins which he had committed in the earlier part of his reign. Repentance 
had not saved huji from the temporal chastisements of error. The cup of life was embittered by 
sin to the last drop of the draught. But, thougli the sanctifying influence of godly sorrow had 
not saved him from suffering, it had secured him the blessed consolations of inward peace. Af- 
flicted by the ingratitude of those from whom he had a right to expect the tenderest love, and 
kept in perpetual fear of the loss of his dignity and life, he had yet pleasures in reserve which 
satisfied his soul, and of which tlie world could not deprive him. His only anxiety now was to 
obtain more divine gi-ace, and plainer indications of the Almighty's presence. He needed such 
mercies for the support of his faith ; but even in this respect, ]ie breathed forth tlie ti-ue spirit of 
humility : — " As for me, I will patiently abide alway ; and will praise thee more and more." 
The Lord did not forsake him in his old age. Happy they who, though like David, punished 
for the sins of their youth, can find, like him, as they approach the grave, a firm assurance of 
support in the graces of a humbled but believing soul ! 

550 



THE PSALMS. 



Dmj 14 



3 Deliver me, my God, out of the hand of the ungodly : out 
of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 

4 For thou, Lord Grod, art the thing that I long for : thou art 
my hope, even from my youth. 

5 Through thee have 1 been holden up, ever since I was born : 
thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb ; my praise 
shall be always of thee. 

6 I am become as it were a monster unto many : but my sure 
trust is in thee. 

7 let my mouth be filled with thy praise : that I may sing of 
thy glory and honour all the day long. 

8 Cast me not away in the time of age : forsake me not when 
my strength faileth me. 

9 For mine enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for 
my soul take their counsel together, saying : Grod hath forsaken 
him ; persecute him, and take him, for there is none to deliver him. 

10 Go not far from me^ God : my God, haste thee to help me. 

11 Let them be confounded and perish that are against my soul : 
let them be covered with shame and dishonour that seek to do me 
evil. 

12 As for me, I will patiently abide alway : and will praise thee 
more and more. 

13 My mouth shall daily speak of thy righteousness and salva- 
tion : for I know no end thereof. 

14 I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God : and will 
make mention of thy righteousness only. 

15 Thou, God, hast taught me from my youth up until now : 
therefore will I tell of thy wondrous works. 

16 Forsake me not, God, in mine old age, when I am gray- 
headed : until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and 
thy power to all them that are yet for to come. 

17 Thy righteousness, God, is very high : and great things 
are they that thou hast done ; God, who is like unto thee ? 

18 what great troubles and adversities hast thou shewed me ! 
and yet didst thou turn and refresh me : yea, and broughtest me 
from the deep of the earth again. 

19 Thou hast brought me to great honour : and comforted me on 
every side. 

20 Therefore will I praise thee and thy faithfulness, God, 
playing upon an instrument of musick : unto thee will I sing upon 
the harp, thou Holy One of Israel. 

551 



Bay 14. 



THE PSALMS. 



21 My lips will be fain when I sing unto thee : and so will my 
soul whom thou hast dehvered. 

22 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day 
long : for they are confounded and brought unto shame that seek to 
do me evil. 

Psal. Ixxii. Bens, judicium. 

IVE the King thy judgements, God : 
and thy righteousness unto the King's 
son. 

2 Then shall he judge thy people ac- 
cording unto right : and defend the poor. 

3 The mountfdns also shall bring peace : 
and the little hills righteousness unto the 
people. 

4 He shall keep the simple folk by their 
right : defend the children of the poor, and punish the wrong doer. 

5 They shall fear thee, as long as the sun and moon endureth : 
from one generation to another. 

6 He shall come down like the rain into a fleece of wool : even 
as the drops that water the earth. 

7 In his time, shall the righteous flourish : yea, and abundance of 
peace, so long as the moon endureth. 

8 His dominion shall be also from the one sea to the other : and 
from the flood unto the world's end. 

9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall kneel before him : his 
enemies shall lick the dust. 

Psalm lxxh. — Solomon having ascended the throne of Israel, David composed this psalm as a 
prayer for the prosperity of his reign. The same person is meant by the king and the king's son ; 
the youthful monarch, it lias been observed, liaving been the first of Israel's rulers who was the 
son of a king, as well as a king himself. Parental affection and the common use of Oriental 
imagery miglit be sufficient, in the first instance, to account for tlie language employed ; but 
the closer interpretation of the expressions used carries us to the contemplation of the reign of 
the Messiah, to whicli, like the prophecies of Isaiah, they more manifestly refer. The prospect 
presented in the psalm is the illustration of the sublime mystery of a renovation of all things by 
the power of righteousness. History teaches us the melancholy fact, that at no period liitlierto 
known has the idea of the Psalmist been realized ; and philosophy teaches us, with equal cer- 
tainty, that we ought not to look for its realization till some vital change liave taken place in the 
general constitution of the human character. If the happiness, therefore, is to be hoped for, the 
change must also be expected ; and this change, it is evident, can only be produced by some 
miglity spiritual agency. Here, then, we arrive at some notion respecting the necessity of a 
system like that of the Gospel ; and on examining that which has really been proposed to us by 
the Ptedeemer of tlie World, we find it embodying every element that can tend to the worlcing 
out of the hoped-for blessings. (See, in respect to Solomon's glory, 2 Chron. ix., 1 Kings x. 22 ; 
and, for the prophetical illustration of the psalm, Isaiah xxiv. xlix. Ix,, and Zech. ix. 9, 10.) 

552 




THE PSALMS 



Bay 14. 



10 The kings of Tliarsis and of the isles shall give presents : 
the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts. 

11 All kings shall fall down before him : all nations shall do 
him service. 

12 For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth : the needy also, 
and him that hath no helper. 

13 He shall be favourable to the simple and needy : and shall 
preserve the souls of the poor. 

14 He shall deliver their souls from falsehood and wrong : and 
dear shall their blood be in his sight. 

15 He shall hve, and unto him shall be given of the gold of 
Arabia : prayer shall be made ever unto him, and daily shall he be 
praised. 

16 There shall be an heap of corn in the earth, high upon the 
hills : his fruit shall shake hke Libanus, and shall be green in the 
city like grass upon the earth. 

17 His Name shall endure for ever ; his Name shall remain 
under the sun among the posterities : which shall be blessed through 
him ; and all the heathen shall praise him. 

18 Blessed be the Lord Grod, even the Grod of Israel : which 
only doeth wondrous things ; 

19 And blessed be the Name of his Majesty for ever : and all 
the earth shall be filled with his Majesty. Amen, Amen. 



EVENING PRAYER 

Psal. Ixxiii. Quam lo7ius Israel! 

RULY Grod is loving unto Israel : even 
unto such as are of a clean heart. 

2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost 
gone : my treadings had well-nigh slipt. 

3 And why? I was grieved at the 
wicked : I do also see the ungodly in such 
prosperity. 

4 I'or they are in no peril of death : but 
are lusty and strong. 

5 They come in no misfortune like other 
folk : neither are they plagued like other 
men. 

553 4 B 




Daij 14. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 And this is the cause that they are so holden with pride ; and 
overwhelmed with cruelty. 

7 Their eyes swell with fatness : and they do even what they lust. 

8 They cormpt other, and speak of wicked blasphemy : their 
talking is against the most High. 

9 For they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven : and their 
tongue goeth through the world. 

10 Therefore fall the people unto them : and thereout suck they 
no small advantage. 

11 Tush, say they, how should God perceive it : is there know- 
ledge in the most High ? 

12 Lo, these are the ungodly, these prosper in the world, and 
these have riches in possession : and I said. Then have I cleansed 
my heart in vain, and washed mine hands in innocency. 

13 All the daylong have I been punished : and chastened every 
morning. 

14 l^ea, and I had almost said even as they : but lo, then I should 
have condemned the generation of thy children. 

15 Then thought I to understand this : but it was too hard for me, 

16 Until I went into the sanctuary of G-od : then understood I 
the end of these men ; 

17 Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery places : and 
castest them down, and destroy est them. 

18 Oh, how suddenly do they consume : perish, and come to a 
fearful end ! 

1 9 Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh : so shalt thou 
make their image to vanish out of the city. 

20 Thus my heart was grieved : and it went even through my 
reins. 

21 So foolish was I, and ignorant : even as it were a beast 
before thee. 

Psalm lxxiii.— God is pleased to try the faith of His people in many ways. The most difficult 
of their trials, perhaps, is that alluded to in the present psalm. They see the wicked succeeding 
in their projects, amassing wealth, and obtaining the praises of the world. For an instant, they 
feel inclined to question the providence, the justice, or the wisdom of God ; but, in most cases, 
it reqiiires but a short time to convince them of the error of their doubt. The prosperity of the 
wicked vanishes like a dream ; and it is then seen, or it may have been discovered before by 
earnest meditation on God's ways with men, that they are only allowed to triumph for a season, 
that their final discomfiture may be the more signal and appalling. Yet natui'al as is the 
feeling alluded to, and quickly as it was overcome in the mind of the Psalmist, by united faith 
and reason, he regarded the very admission of the doubt as an indication of gross and wicked 
folly. Holiness has respect to the movements of the mind as well as to the dispositions of the 
heart, and trae spiritual repentance views the wrong tendencies of both with an equal degree of 
sorrow. 

554 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 14. 



22 Nevertheless, I am alway by thee : for thou hast holden me 
by my right hand. 

23 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel : and after that receive 
me with glory. 

24 Whom have I in heaven but thee : and there is none upon 
earth that I desire in comparison of thee. 

25 My flesh and my heart faileth : but Grod is the strength of 
my heart, and my portion for ever. 

26 For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish : thou hast destroyed 
all them that commit fornication against thee. 

27 But it is good for me to hold me fast by Grod, to put my trust 
in the Lord Grod : and to speak of all thy works in the gates of the 
daughter of Sion. 

Psal. Ixxiv. TJt duid, Dens f 

GOD, wherefore art thou absent from us 
so long : why is thy wrath so hot against 
the sheep of thy pasture ? 

2 think upon thy congregation : whom 
thou hast purchased, and redeemed of old. 

3 Think upon the tribe of thine inherit- 
ance : and mount Sion, wherein thou hast 
dwelt. 

4 Lift up thy feet, that thou mayest 
utterly destroy every enemy : which hath done evil in thy sanctuary. 

Psalm lxxiy. — This pathetic psalm is supposed to have been composed when Jerusalem was 
entered and laid waste by the armies of Babylon. It describes with melancholy force the ravages 
of the barbarous enemy. No friend appeared to solace the unfortunate sutferers. The voice of 
God and of prophecy was mute. But one consolation was open to the desolate people. They 
could remember how God in old time delivered them from the power of the Egyptian king — how 
they had been led through the wilderness, and enabled to overcome the many nations by whom 
they were opposed. To this God they could still appeal, and the knowledge of His past mercies 
taught them to look with hope to a futm-e deliverance. The alternate struggles and triumphs of 
the chosen nation were not more various than those which have been endured by the Christian 
Church. This would be evident to most persons were it not that, in the one case, a nation was 
identical with the Church ; whereas, in the other, the Church exists scattered through many 
nations, assuming nowhere so distinct a form that the rise or fall of any one of the nations in 
which it so exists could be taken as a certain index of the state of the Church itself. In contem- 
plating the sorrows of Israel, we have a clearly defined and palpable object before us : in endea- 
vouring to trace those of the Church of Christ, no slight effort is required to gather together the 
particulars, the combination of which is to bring tlie Chm-ch, in its life and unity, clearly into 
view. But when this is done, there is scarcely a passage in tlie devotions of the Old Testament 
fathers which may not be applied, with a slight accommodation, to the illustration of evangelical 
history. Thus, as in the present psalm, the record of God's early dealings with His people was 
the ground of hope that He would never forsake them ; so, in the prayers of Christians, does the 
experience of His frequent interference in their favom- make itself manifest as tlie foundation of 
their trust in a final salvation. 

555 




Day 14. 



THE PSALMS. 



5 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy congregations : and 
set np their banners for tokens. 

6 He that hewed timber afore out of the thick trees : was known 
to bring it to an excellent work. 

7 But now they break down all the carved work thereof : with 
axes and hammers. 

8 They have set fire upon thy holy places : and have defiled the 
dwelling-place of thy Name, even unto the ground. 

9 Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make havock of them 
altogether : thus have they burnt up all the houses of God in the 
land. 

10 We see not our tokens, there is not one prophet more : no, 
not one is there among us, that understandeth any more. 

11 God, how long shall the adversary do this dishonour : how 
long shall tbe enemy blaspheme thy Name, for ever ? 

12 Why withdrawest thou thy hand : why pluckestthou not thy 
right hand out of thy bosom to consume the enemy ? 

13 For God is my King of old : the help that is done upon the 
earth, he doeth it himself. 

14 Thou didst divide the sea through thy power : thou brakest 
the heads of the dragons in the waters. 

15 Thou smotest the heads of Leviathan in pieces : and gavest 
him to be meat for the people in the wilderness. 

16 Thou broughtest out fountains and waters out of the hard 
rocks : thou driedst up mighty w^aters. 

17 The day is thine, and the night is thine : thou hast prepared 
the light and the sun. 

18 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth : thou hast made 
summer and winter. 

19 Eemember this, Lord, how the enemy hath rebuked : and 
how the foolish people have blasphemed thy Name. 

20 deliver not the soul of tby turtle-dove unto the multitude of 
the enemies : and forget not the congregation of the poor for ever. 

21 Look upon the covenant : for all the earth is full of darkness, 
and cruel habitations. 

22 O let not the simple go away ashamed : but let the poor and 
needy give praise unto thy Name. 

23 Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause : remember how the 
foolish man blasphemeth thee daily. 

24 Forget not the voice of thine enemies : the presumption of 
them that hate thee increaseth ever more and more. 

556 



THE FIFTEENTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER. 




1 



Psal. Ixxv. Confitebimur tibi. 
NTO thee, God, do we give tliaiiks : 
yea, unto thee do we give thanks. 

2 Thy Name also is so nigh : and that 
do thy wondrous works declare. 

3 When 1 receive the congregation : I 
shall judge according unto right. 

4 The earth is weak, and all the inha- 
biters thereof : I bear up the pillars of it. 

5 I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly : and to the 
ungodly, Set not up your horn. 
X 6 Set not up your horn on high : and speak not with a 
stiff neck. 

7 Eor promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the 
west : nor yet from the south. 




Psalm lxxv.— It appears that this psalm was written to be sung in parts, the first two verses 
being used as a chorus, and the rest as expressing the answer of Israel, or the Messiah, when 
triumphant over the enemies of the chosen people. Commentators suppose that it was composed 
in the time of the Babylonish captivitv. 

557 



Day 15. 



THE PSALMS. 



8 And why? God is the Judge : he puttetli down one, and 
setteth up another. 

9 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is 
red : it is full mixed, and he poureth out of the same. 

10 As for the dregs thereof : all the ungodly of the earth shall 
drink them, and suck them out. 

11 But I will talk of the God of Jacob : and praise him for ever. 

12 All the horns of the ungodly also will I break : and the horns 
of the righteous shall be exalted. 

Psal. Ixxvi. Notus in Judma, 

N Jewry is God known : his Name is 
great in Israel. 

2 At Salem is his tabernacle : and his 
dwelling in Sion. 

3 There brake he the arrows of the bow : 
the shield, the sword, and the battle. 

4 Thou art of more honour and might : 
than the hills of the robbers. 

5 The proud are robbed, they have slept 
their sleep : and all the men whose hands were mighty have found 
nothing. 

6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob : both the chariot and horse 
are fallen. 

7 Thou, even thou art to be feared : and who may stand in thy 
sight when thou art angry ? 

8 Thou didst cause thy judgement to be heard from heaven : the 
earth trembled, and was still, 

9 When God arose to judgement : and to help all the meek upon 
earth. 

10 The fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise : and the 
fierceness of them shalt thou refrain. 

1 1 Promise unto the Lord your God, and keep it, all ye that are 
round about him : bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. 

12 He shall refrain the spirit of princes : and is wonderful 
amoDg the kings of the earth. 

Psalm lxxvi. — From the general character of this psalm, it is conjectured to have been written 
immediately after the miraculons overthrow of the army of Sennacherib. Animating as such 
strains must have been to the delivered nation, they speak still more forcibly when, interpreted of 
the defeat of our spiritual enemies, they remind the believer of his victories in Clirist. 

558 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 15. 




Psal. Ixxvii. Voce mea ad Bominim. 

WILL cry unto God with my voice : even 
unto God will I cry with my voice, and he 
shall hearken unto me. 

2 In the time of my trouble I sought the 
Lord : my sore ran, and ceased not in the 
night-season ; my soul refused comfort. 

3 When I am in heaviness, I will think 
upon God : when my heart is vexed, I will 
complain. 

4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking : I am so feeble, that I cannot 
speak. 

5 I have considered the days of old : and the years that are past.- 

6 I call to remembrance my song : and in the night I commune 
with mine own heart, and search out my spirits. 

7 Will the Lord absent himself for ever : and will he be no more 
intreated ? 

8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever : and is his promise come 
utterly to an end for evermore ? 

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious : and will he shut up his 
loving-kindness in displeasure ? 

10 And I said. It is mine own infirmity : but I will remember 
the years of the right hand of the most Highest. 

11 I will remember the works of the Lord : and call to mind 
the wonders of old time. 

12 1 will think also of all thy works : and my talking shall be 
of thy doings. 

13 Thy way, God, is liolv : who is so great a God as our 
God? 

14 Thou art the God that doeth wonders : and hast declared thy 
power among the people. 

15 Thou hast mightily delivered thy people : even the sons of 
Jacob and Joseph. 

16 The waters saw thee, God, the waters saw thee, and were 
afraid : the depths also were troubled. 

Psalm lxxvii. — This is anotlier of the psahns said to have been composed during the Captivity. 
It was the plaintive song of one of the faithful men in whom the Holy Spirit kept alive a devout 
love of God, and a tender recollection of the clouded glories of Zion. To such a one, sadness of 
heart is but as the forerunner of a deeper and holier kind of thought. " When I am in heaviness 
I will think upon God." Faith and hope simultaneously revive when the heart thus turns to God, 
and the series of past wonders reflects a radiant promise of glory on the clouds in the horizon. 

559 



Day 15. THE PSALMS. 

IT The clouds poured out water, the au' thundered ; and thine 
arrows went abroad. 

18 The voice of thy thunder was heard round about : the light- 
nings shone upon the ground ; the earth was moved, and shook 
withah 

19 Thy way is in the sea, and th}^ paths in the great waters : 
and thy footsteps are not known. 

20 Thou leddest thy people like sheep : by the hand of Moses 
and Aaron. 



E VEXING PEAYEE. 

Psal. Isx™. Attendite. jjojjiile. 

EAR my law, my people : incline your 
ears unto the words of my mouth. 

2 I will open my mouth in a parable : 
I will declare hard sentences of old ; 

3 Which we have heard and known : 
and such as our fathers have told us ; 

4 That we should not hide them from 
the children of the generations to come : 
but to shew the honour of the Lord, his 
mighty and ^7onderful works that he hath 
done . 

5 He made a covenant with J acob, and 
eave Israel a law : which he commanded 

our forefathers to teach their children ; 

6 That their posterity might know it : and the children which 
were yet unborn ; 

Psalm t^xxvttt. — Tliis noble historical psalm presents in rapid succession tliose dealings of God 
w;tli His people Tvhereby they were brought from the infancy of the chosen family to the highest 
state of wealth and honour. The second verse of the psalm is applied by St. Matthew (xiii. 35) 
to our Lord ; and the word parable is, therefore, to be taken in the widest signification, that is, as 
describing not only narratives invented to illustrate moral doctrine, but those also of real events 
when applied by way of type, example, or spiritual application. In every passage, therefore, of 
this psalm, the meditative mind of the believer may find some typical trace of the Gospel. St. 
Paul himself has taught us this method of studying that which at first seems only history. Thus 
he shows (1 Cor. x. 1—4; that the people of God were, from the first, baptized into Christ, and 
did eat of Christ ; and in Hebrews iii. and iv. that faith was then, as now, the means of safety, — 
the want of it, a sure forei-unner of disgrace and death. By thus connecting history with prophecy, 
and bringing the light of the Gospel to illustrate the progress of the Law, we make, according 
to the apostolic precept, all tilings written aforetime conduce to our increase in evangelical 
knowledge. 

560 




THE PSAL3IS. 



Bay 15. 



7 To the intent that when they came up : they might show their 
children the same. 

8 That they might put their trust in God : and not to forget the 
works of God, but to keep his commandments ; 

9 And not to be as their forefathers, a faithless and stubborn 
generation : a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose 
spirit cleaveth not stedfastly unto God ; 

10 Like as the children of Ephraim : who being harnessed, and 
carrying bows, turned themselves back in the day of battle. 

11 They kept not the covenant of God : and would not walk in 
his law ; 

1 2 But forgat what he had done : and the wonderful v/orks that 
he had shewed for them. 

13 Marvellous things did he in the sight of our forefathers, in the - 
land of Egypt : even in the field of Zoan. 

14 He divided the sea, and let them go through : he made the 
waters to stand on an heap. 

A general view of tbe course of Divine Providence may fill the mind with wonder, and elevate 
it in the same manner as the contemplation of Nature, when displawg, in the most striking 
manner, the operation of her beneficent laws. But while wonder may be thus excited, it requires 
a far closer and more minute observation of the ways of God to awaken the feelings of love and 
thankfulness, which have their princij^les deeper in tlie heart, and rec|uh-e the more lively and 
impressive workings of thought to bring them into action. The Psalmiit begins his song with an 
allusion to the original covenant between God and His people. On this rested the whole super- 
structure of the nation : from this it derived the rights which exalted it above all others in the 
world ; and by this it became responsible for the preservation of that knowledge out of which were 
to arise the grand safeguards of civihzation for the world at large. To forget this covenant -was 
to abandon the charter of the nation's happiness, and therefore the Psalmist reminds his people, 
with paternal earnestness, to keep it in their niemories by constunt and solemn exercises of medi- 
tation. The covenant itself forming a basis for the excursive range of thought, proposed by the 
Psahnist, he next leads his fellow-worshippers to the coutemplation of the events by which God 
proved the stedfastness of His promises, and the hateful folly of those who broke a covenant so 
sealed and confirmed on the part of the Most High. Doubt and rebellion were the companions 
of Israel in the journey which was to lead him, by the mercies of God, to everlasting peace. 
Neither loving-kindness nor chastisements expelled the spirit of piidethat dwelt within the heart 
of the people, and the Psalmist, in depicting their conduct at this early period of their national 
existence, seems describing prophetically their character and conduct to the end. The repeated 
mercies of God are strikingly contrasted with their obstinate iniquity. It was a theme which the 
devout spirit of the Psalmist dwelt on with a melancholy interest. He knew that the gloiy of 
Israel stUl depended on the penitent, humble, and thankful sphit which the recollection of these 
things might happily inspire. He appealed to the testimony of ages — to all that was recorded in 
the venerable annals of the nation — against whatever tended to darken the souls of the people. 
There was also another argument to obedience. It was derived from the manifestation afforded of 
God's determining will in the election of Judah. The one nation had been selected by the free 
and omnipotent wisdom of Jehovah from all other nations, to be the depository of His revelations ; 
and the one tribe was chosen from all the rest to bring into effect the sublime determinations of 
His mercy. Here was unlimited power, and an inscrutable Providence which made the question- 
ing wisdom of men foolishness. The designs of God could only be kno-sTO to this extent, that 
they were all intended to establish holiness ; and the awful mysteries in which they were, in every 
other respect wrapi^ed, taught this one grand lesson to the human soul, that upon the single object 
which the Lord of heaven and earth had been pleased to make known, the whole of man's moral 
and spiritual energies ought to be perpetually and entirely emploved. 

501 ' ^ 4c 



Day 15. 



THE PSALMS. 



15 In the day-time also lie led them with a cloud : and all the 
night through with a Hght of fire. 

1 6 He clave the hard rocks in the wilderness : and gave them 
drink thereof, as it had been out of the great depth. 

IT He brought waters out of the stony rock : so that it gushed 
out like the rivers. 

18 Yet for all this they sinned more against him : and provoked 
the most Highest in the w^ilderness. 

19 They tempted God in their hearts : and required meat for 
their lust. 

20 They spake against God also, sa^ung : Shall God prepare a 
table in the wilderness ? 

21 He smote the stony rock indeed, that the water gushed out, 
and the streams flowed withal : but can he give bread also, or 
provide flesh for his people ? 

22 TThen the Lord heard this, he was wroth : so the fire was 
kindled in Jacob, and there came up heavy displeasure against Israel ; 

23 Because they believed not in God : and put not their trust 
in his help. 

24 So he commanded the clouds above : and opened the doors of 
heaven. 

25 He rained down manna also upon them for to eat : and gave 
them food from heaven. 

26 So man did eat angels' food : for he sent them meat enough. 

27 He caused the east-wind to blow under heaven : and throuoii 
his power he brought in the south-west-wdnd. 

28 He rained flesh upon them as thick as dust : and feathered 
fowls like as the sand of the sea. 

29 He let it fall among their tents : even round about their 
habitation. 

30 So they did eat, and w^ere will filled ; for he gave them their 
own desbe : they were not disappointed of then' lust. 

31 But while the meat was yet in their mouths, the heavy wi'ath 
of God came upon them, and slew the wealthiest of them : yea, and 
smote down the chosen men that were in Israel. 

32 But for all this they sinned yet more : and believed not his 
wondrous w^orks. 

33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity : and their years 
in trouble. 

34 When he slew- them, they sought him : and turned them 
early, and enquired after God. 

562 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 15. 



35 And they remembered that God was their strength : and that 
the high God Ams their redeemer. 

36 Nevertheless, they did but flatter him with their mouth : and 
dissembled with him in their tong-ue. 

3 / Tor their heart was not whole with him : neither continued 
they stedfast in his covenant. 

38 But he was so merciful, that he forgave their misdeeds : and 
destroyed them not. 

39 Yea, many a time turned he his wrath away : and would not 
suffer his whole displeasure to arise. 

40 Tor he considered that they were but flesh : and that they 
were even a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. 

41 Many a time did they provoke him in the wilderness : and 
grieved him in the desert. 

42 They turned back, and tempted God : and moved the Holy 
One in Israel. 

43 They thought not of his hand : and of the day when he deli- 
vered them from the hand of the enemy ; 

44 How he had wrought his miracles in Egypt : and his wonders 
in the field of Zoan. 

45 He turned their waters into blood : so that they might not 
drink of the rivers. 

46 He sent lice among them, and devoured them up : and frogs 
to destroy them. 

47 He gave their fruit unto the caterpillar : and their labour 
unto the grasshopper. 

48 He destroyed their vines with hailstones : and their mulberry- 
trees with the frost. 

49 He smote their cattle also with hailstones : and their flocks 
w-ith hot thunderbolts. 

50 He cast upon them the furiousness of his wrath, anger, dis- 
pleasure, and trouble : and sent evil angels among them. 

51 He made a way to his indignation, and spared not their soul 
from death : but gave their life over to the pestilence ; 

52 And smote all the first-born in Egypt : the most principal 
and mightiest in the dwellings of Ham. 

53 But as for his own people, he led them forth like sheep : and 
carried them in the wilderness like a flock. 

54 He brought them out safely, that they should not fear : and 
overwhelmed their enemies with the sea. 

.563 4 c 2 



Day 15. 



THE PSALMS. 



55 And brought them withmthe borders of his sanctuary : even 
to his mountain which he purchased with his right hand. 

56 He cast out the heathen also before them : caused their land 
to be divided among them for an heritage, and made the tribes of 
Israel to dwell in their tents. 

57 So they tempted, and displeased the most high God : and 
kept not his testimonies ; 

58 But turned their backs, and fell away like their forefathers : 
starting aside like a broken bow. 

59 For they grieved him with their hill-altars : and provoked 
him to displeasure with their images. 

60 When God heard this, he was wroth : and took sore dis- 
pleasure at Israel. 

61 So that he forsook the tabernacle in Silo : even the tent that 
he had pitched among men. 

62 He delivered their power into captivity : and their beauty 
into the enemy's hand. 

63 He gave his people over also unto the sword : and was wroth 
with his inheritance. 

64 The fire consumed their young men : and their maidens were 
not given to marriage. 

65 Their priests were slain with the sword : and there were no 
widows to make lamentation. 

66 So the Lord awaked as one out of sleep -. and like a giant 
refreshed with wane. 

67 He smote his enemies in the hinder parts : and put them to 
a perpetual shame. 

68 He refused the tabernacle of Joseph -. and chose not the tribe 
of Ephraim ; 

69 But chose the tribe of Judah : even the hill of Sion which he 
loved. 

70 And there he built his temple on high : and laid the founda- 
tion of it like the ground which he hath made continually. 

71 He chose David also his servant : and took him away from 
the sheep-folds. 

72 As he was following the ewes great with young ones he 
took him : that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his 
inheritance. 

73 So he fed them with a faithful and true heart : and ruled 
them prudently with all his power. 

564 



THE SIXTEENTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 



4' 



I 




3 T 

salem 



Psal. Ixxix. Beus, venerunt. 

GOD, the heathen are come into thine in- 
heritance : thy holy temple have they defiled, 
and made Jerusalem an heap of stones. 

2 The dead bodies of thy servants have 
they given to be meat unto the fowls of the 
air : and the flesh of thy saints unto the 
beasts of the land, 
heir blood have they shed like water on every side of Jeru- 
: and there was no man to bury them. 




Psalm lxxix. — The prophet Jeremiah has spoken in the same language as this psahn, and it 
was therefore probably composed in the melancholy season which immediately preceded tlie 
Captivity. (Jer. x. 25., 2 Chron. xxxhi. 11, and 1 Mac. vii. 17.) No calamities can be greater 
than those which God's people have to endure when driven from His presence. Their former 
grandeur was of a nobler kind than the proudest glories of the world ; and the loss of such an 
exaltation throws the sufferers into a state of misery from which nothing can give relief but the 
Power which originally exalted them. The sorrows spoken of in the psalm were literally endured 
by the Jews at the time of tlie Babylonish captivity, and still more lamentably so at the final 
destruction of Jerusalem. But terrible as is the view of a people afflicted as they were, subjected 
to all the miseries of exile and servitude, the mind may derive from the contemplation of their 
afflictions, considered as types of a spiritual ruin and desolation, still more awful warnings against 
sin. The Chm-ch of Christ apostatizing, as it woidd be a more fearful instance of man's depravity, 
so would it, in all ways, be productive of 'more terrible woes. 

565 



Bay 16. 



THE PSALMS. 



4 We are become an open shame to our enemies : a very scorn 
and derision unto them that are round about us. 

5 Lord, how long wilt thou be angry : shall thy jealousy burn 
like fire for ever ? 

6 Pour out thine indignation upon the heathen that have not 
known thee : and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon 
thy Name. 

7 Tor they have devoured J acob : and laid waste his dwelling- 
place. 

8 remember not our old sins, but have mercy upon us, and 
that soon : for we are come to great misery. 

9 Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of thy Name : 
deliver us and be merciful unto our sins, for thy Name's sake. 

10 Wherefore do the heathen say : Where is now their God ? 

11 let the vengeance of thy servants' blood that is shed : be 
openly shewed upon the heathen in our sight. 

12 let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before 
thee : according to the greatness of thy power, preserve thou those 
that are appointed to die. 

13 And for the blasphemy wherewith our neighbours have 
blasphemed thee : reward thou them, Lord, seven- fold into their 
bosom. 

14 So we, that are thy people, and sheep of thy pasture, shall 
give thee thanks for ever : and will alway be shewing forth thy 
praise from generation to generation. 

Psal. Ixxx. Qui regis Israel. 

E AE, thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that 
leadest Joseph like a sheep : shew thyself 
also, thou that sittest upon the clierubims. 

2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Ma- 
nasses : stir up thy strength, and come, 
and help us. 

3 Turn us again, O God : shew the light 
of thy countenance, and we shall be whole. 

4 Lord God of hosts : how Ions: wilt 
thou be angry with thy people that prayeth ? 

Psalm lxxx. — Tkis psalm, like the preceding, is also supposed by some to have been wiitten 
about the time of the Captivity, but others ascribe it to an earlier period. Ephraim, Benjamin, 
and Manasses, are named as a part for the whole, and as more immediately connected with Joseph. 
The writer describes with exquisite pathos the sorrows of Israel. Under the figure of a vine, a 

566 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 16. 



5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears : and givest them 
plenteousness of tears to drink. 

6 Thou hast made us a very strife unto our neighbours : and 
our enemies laugh us to scorn. 

7 Turn us again, thou God of hosts : shew the light of thy 
countenance, and we shall be whole. 

8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt : thou hast cast out 
the heathen, and planted it. 

9 Thou madest room for it : and when it had taken root it filled 
the land. 

10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it : and the boughs 
thereof were Hke the goodly cedar-trees. 

11 She stretched out her branches unto the sea : and her boughs 
unto the river. 

12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedge : that all they 
that go by pluck off her grapes ? 

13 The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up : and the wild 
beasts of the field devour it. 

14 Turn thee again, thou God of hosts, look down from heaven : 
behold, and visit this vine ; 

15 And the place of the vineyard that thy right hand hath 
planted : and the branch that thou madest so strong for thyself. 

16 It is burnt with fire, and cut down : and they shall perish at 
the rebuke of thy countenance. 

17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand : and upon 
the son of man, whom thou madest so strong for thine own self. 

18 And so will not we go back from thee : let us live, and we 
shall call upon thy Name. 

19 Turn us again, Lord God of hosts : shew the light of thy 
countenance, and we shall be whole. 

favourite metaphor with the prophets (See Isaiah v. ; Ezek. xv., xvii., and xix., and employed by 
our blessed Lord Himself), he sets before us the glory of the nation when it flomished under the 
fostering care and t];e continual blessings of God. The melancholy reverse is shown with equal 
force ; and the people of Christ find in the whole a striking commentary on their Lord's words : — 
" If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather them, 
and cast them mto the fire, and they are burned." (John xv. 6). 

Psalm lxxsi.— From the expression in the fifth verse, "this he ordained in Joseph for a 
testimony," it is supposed that the present psalm was composed at a very early period, that is, 
before Judah was chosen as the chief of the tribes, and while the tabernacle was still in Ephraim. 
It is evidently a song for some great festival, and was probably used at the Feast of Trumpets 
(See Num. xxix. 1. ; Levit. xxui. 25) and at the Feast of Tabernacles. The deliverance of Israel, 
from his low condition in Egypt, was contemplated by sphitual minds with mingled triumph and 
humility. He owed all his power to God ; but this was his glory so long as he continued faithful. 
He did not wish to forget how he had once labom-ed as a slave in the clay-pits of Egypt, because 



Daij 16. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. Ixxxi. Emltate Deo. 

ING we merrily unto God our strength : 
make a cheerful noise unto the G-od of 
Jacob. 

2 Take the psalm, bring hither tlie 
tabret : the merry harp with the lute. 

3 Blow up the trumpet in the new- 
moon : even in the time appointed, and 
upon our solemn feast-day. 

4 For this was made a statute for Israel : 
and a law of the God of Jacob. 

5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony : when he came 
out of the land of Egypt, and had lieard a strange language. 

6 I eased his shoulder from the burden : and his hands were 
delivered from making the pots. 

7 Thou calledst upon me in troubles, and I delivered thee : and 
heard thee what time as the storm fell upon thee.. 

8 I proved thee also : at the waters of strife. 

9 Hear, my people, and I will assure thee, Israel : if thou 
wilt hearken unto me, 

10 There shall no strange god be iii thee : neither shalt thou 
worship any other god. 

11 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of 
Egypt : open thy mouth wide, and I shall fill it. 

12 But my people vrould not hear my voice : and Israel would 
not obey me. 

13 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts : and let them 
follow their own imaginations. 

14 that my people vrould have hearkened unto me : for if Israel 
had walked in m}' ways, 

15 1 should soon have put down their enemies : and turned my 
hand against their adversaries. 

16 The haters of the Lord should have been found liars : but 
their time should have endured for ever. 

17 He should have fed them also with the finest wheat-flour : 
and with honey out of the stony rock should I have satisfied thee. 

the greater his original misery, the greater the mercy of God in raising him to so much honour. 
By the same reasoning the Christian learns to exalt the glory of his Saviom-'s mercy. He 
remembers wliat he once was— the slave of sin— the honclman of deatli ; and the freedom which 
he now enjoys is rendered of greater value by this its contrast with liis former state. 





THE PSALMS. 



Day 16. 



EVENING PRAYER. 

Psal. Ixxxii. Beus stetii. 

OD standeth in the congregation of 
princes : he is a Judge among gods. 

2 How long will ye give wrong judge- 
ment : and accept the persons of the un- 
godly ? 

3 Defend the poor and fatherless : see 
that such as are in need and necessity have 
right. 

4 Deliver the out-cast and poor : save 
them from the hand of the ungodly. 

5 They will not be learned nor under- 
stand, but walk on still in darkness : all the 
foundations of the earth are out of course. 

6 I have said, Yq are gods : and ye are all the children of the 
most Highest. 

7 But ye shall die like men : and fall like one of the princes. 

8 Arise, God, and judge thou the earth : for thou shalt take 
all heathen to thine inheritance. 

Psal. Ixxxiii. Deus, quis similis ? 

OLD not thy tongue, God, keep not 
still silence : refrain not thyself, O God. 

2 For lo, thine enemies make a mur- 
muring : and they that hate thee have lift 
up their head. 

3 They have imagined craftily against 
thy people : and taken counsel against thy 
secret ones. 

4 They have said, Come, and let us root 
them out, that they be no more a people : and that the name of 
Israel may be no more in remembrance. 

Psalm lxxxii. — It is the security of mankind at large, and more especially of the righteous, 
that God exercises a supreme judgment over the affairs of men. For their sins. He allows them 
sometimes to be bowed down by the oppression of the wicked ; but He always reasserts the 
rightfulness of His original decrees ; and whether they be princes, or the meanest of the people, 
that break the rules of justice. He shows by the vengeance which He at length takes, that " He 
standeth in the congregation of princes that " He is a judge among gods." Our blessed Lord 
alludes to the expressions used in this psalm — Jolin x. 34 — 36. 

569 4 D 





Baij 16. 



THE PSALMS. 



5 For tliey have cast their heads together with one consent : 
and are confederate against thee ; 

6 The tabernacles of the Edomites, and the Ismaelites : the 
Moabites, and Hagarens ; 

7 Gebal, and Amnion, and Amalek : the Phihstines, with them 
that dwell at Tyre. 

8 Assur also is joined with them : and have holpen the children 
of Lot. 

9 But do thou to them as unto the Madianites : unto Sisera, and 
unto Jabin at the brook of Kison ; 

10 Who perished at Endor : and became as the dung of the 
earth. 

11 Make them and their princes like Oreb and Zeb : yea, make 
all their princes like as Zeba and Salmana ; 

12 Who say, Let us take to ourselves : the houses of God in 
possession. 

13 my God, make them like unto a wheel : and as the stubble 
before the wind ; 

1 4 Like as the fire that burneth up the wood : and as the flame 
that consumeth the mountains. 

1 5 Persecute them even so with thy tempest : and make them 
afraid with thy storm. 

16 Make their faces ashamed, Lord : that they may seek thy 
Name. 

17 Let them be confounded and vexed ever more and more : let 
them be put to shame, and perish. 

18 And they shall know that thou, whose Name is Jehovah : 
art only the most Highest over all the earth. 

PsAUvi Lxxxiii.— It is conjectured that this psahn was composed on the occasion of the victory 
which Jehoshaphat gained over the nations handed against him, as recorded in 2 Ohron. xx. As 
a song of triumph, it is bold and elevated ; and the pictm-esque language in which it speaks brings 
before us the proud array of the enemies of Israel, with aU the barbaric pomp of ancient days. 
The host which had to be encountered was composed not only of the people who hated Israel from 
the beginning, but of the Assyrians also, whose power was suflacient of itself to overthrow any 
nation not especially protected by the arm of God. The enemy of Israel was the enemy of God ; 
and thus it must ever be. Divine Providence has graciously prevented mankind from working 
their wiH m the destruction of all knowledge, and the establishment of one imiversal despotism for 
the power of evil. This has been effected by the constant existence of a people who, through all 
times and all revolutions, have obtained the privilege of knowing God and God's will, by the 
communications of His Spirit. The author of evil has viewed the people thus elected, to be a 
barrier against his conquests, with unceasing hatred. Inspired by him, the world has done the 
same ; and in all its struggles to overcome the power of God's righteousness, it has made the 
fiercest assaults on the chosen ministers of His word. It is not for themselves only, therefore, that 
God's people pray : tliey know that, should the enemy be allowed finally to prevail against them, 
the hope of the human race would be lost for ever. (.For the allusions to the Midianites, &c., 
see Judges vii. and viii.) 

570 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 16. 



Psal. Ixxxiy. Qiutm dilecta ! 

HOW amiable are thy dwellings : thou 
Lord of hosts ! 

2 My soul hath a desire and longing to 
enter into the courts of the Lord : my heart 
and my flesh rejoice in the living God. 

3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her an 
house, and the swallow a nest where she 
may lay her young : even thy altars, O 
Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 

4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house : they v/ill be alway 
praising thee. 

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee : in whose heart 
are thy ways. 

6 Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well : and 
the pools are filled with water. 

7 They will go from strength to strength : and unto the God of 
gods appeareth every one of them in Sion. 

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer : hearken, God of 
Jacob. 

9 Behold, God our defender : and look upon the face of thine 
Anointed. 

10 For one day in thy courts : is better than a thousand. 
Ill had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God : than 

to dwell in the tents of ungodliness. 

12 For the Lord God is a light and defence : the Lord will give 
grace and worship, and no good thing shall he withhold from them 
that live a godly life. 

18 Lord God of hosts : blessed is the man that putteth his 
trust in thee. 

PgALM Lxxxiv. — This beautiful psalm describes the feelings of every child of God when pre- 
vented from enjoying, in His tabernacle, the wonted comforts of devotion. The promised presence 
of His Spirit, — the assurance of an answer to prayer offered up in His house, — pours around its 
courts a visible beauty, and the heart of the worsliipper therein is filled with inexpressible tran- 
quillity and dehght. Longing to renew his blessed enjoyments in the service of the Lord's temple, 
the poor and weary exile has no sooner been set free than he begins his journey towards the 
sanctuary. The vale of misery, or, as it is in the original, the vale of Baca, lies on his way. To 
others, it is a sad and desert path, like the valley of the shadow of death ; but to him it offers 
fountains of life : the wells of salvation are unexpectedly opened to him ; and refreshed, even in 
that melancholy valley, he passes on with renewed strength till he reach the object of all his wishes, 
the house of God, — here a tabernacle — in heaven a mansion. 

571 




Day 16. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. Ixxxv. Benedixisti, Doniine. 

OED, thou art become gracious unto thy 
' ' land : tliou hast turned away the captivity 

^ of Jacob. 

^ 2 Thou hast forgiven the offence of thy 

people : and covered all their sins. 

3 Thou hast taken awa}^ all thy displea- 
sure : and turned thyself from thy wrathful 
indignation. 

4 Turn us then, O God our Saviour : 
and let thine anger cease from us. 

5 Wilt thou be displeased at us for ever : and wilt thou stretch 
out thy wrath from one generation to another? 

6 Wilt thou not turn again, and quicken us : that thy people 
may rejoice in thee ? 

7 Shew us thy mercy, Lord ; and grant us thy salvation. 

8 I will hearken what the Lord Grod will say concerning me : 
for he shall speak peace unto his people, and to his saints, that they 
turn not again. 

9 For his salvation is nigh them that fear him : that glory may 
dwell in our land. 

10 Mercy and truth are met together : righteousness and peace 
have kissed each other. 

11 Truth shall flourish out of the earth : and righteousness hath 
looked down from heaven. 

12 Yea, the Lord shall shew loving-kindness : and our land shall 
give her increase. 

13 Eigliteousness shall go before him : and he shall direct his 
going in the way. 

Psalm lxxxv.— This psalm appears to have been composed at a time wlien God had akeady 
delivered His people from the oxDpression of proud and insulting enemies, but still left them with 
sufficient to endure to oblige them to entreat His fm'ther compassion and assistance. " Thou art 
become gracious unto tliy land, ' was the expression of thankful hearts, relieved of a load of misery. 
" Turn us, O God our Saviour, and let thine anger cease from us," was the expression of the same 
hearts, anxious for a complete deliverance from danger, and trembling lest the anger of the 
Almighty Father might not yet have ceased. A sublune declaration of faith follows tliis prayer. 
The Psalmist saw in the workings of God's providence what the Christian knows by the working 
of His grace, and by the Gospel of Jesus Chiist, that the attributes of God,— those which demand 
the most severe justice, and those which rejoice in the profoundest love, — are by His own plans 
completely and eteraally reconciled. 




572 



THE SEVENTEENTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAY EE. 




Psal. Ixxxvi. Inelina, Bomine. 
OW down tliine ear, Lord, and hear 
me : for I am poor, and in misery. 

2 Preserve thou my soul, for I am holy : 
my God, save thy servant that putteth his 
trust in thee. 

3 Be merciful unto me, Lord : for I 
will call daily upon thee. 

4 Comfort the soul of thy servant : for unto thee, Lord, 
do I lift up my soul. 

5 For thou. Lord, art good and gracious : and of great 
mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 



Psalm lxxxyi, — At whatever period tMs psalm was composed, whether, as some suppose, in 
the time of the captivity, or by David himself, it expresses the sentiments of a soul conscious of 
God's mercy and righteousness in the midst of His severest judgments. " Godly sorrow worketh 
repentance, not to be repented of," says the Apostle ; and the Psalmist illustrates this sentiment by 
the humility, — the tenderness of spirit, — the faithful acknowledgTaents of Divine compassion, that 
breathe through this beautiful liymn. The prayers of God's children may often be deeply melan- 
choly ; but they always exhibit an under current of hope. " Preserve thou my soul, for I am 
holy," that is, consecrated unto thee, — sanctified by thy grace : "a living sacrifice,' one of those 
who, having been redeemed by thee, shall not be plucked out of thy hand. This som-ce of con- 
fidence keeps the heart stedfast in the hope of mercy ; and affiictions are borne with meek resig- 
nation to the Divine will, 

573 



Bay 17. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 Grive ear, Lord, unto my prayer : and ponder the voice of my 
humble desires. 

7 In the time of my trouble I will call upon thee : for thou 
hearest me. 

8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, Lord : there 
is not one that can do as thou doest. 

9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship thee, 
O Lord : and shall glorify thy Name. 

10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things : thou art 
God alone. 

11 Teach me thy way, Lord, and I wnll walk in thy truth : 
knit my heart unto thee, that I may fear thy Name. 

12 I will thank thee, Lord my God, with all my heart : and 
will praise thy Name for evermore. 

13 For great is thy mercy toward me : and thou hast delivered 
my soul from the nethermost hell. 

14 God, the proud are risen against me : and the congrega- 
tions of naughty men have sought after my soul, and have not set 
thee before their eyes. 

15 But thou, Lord God, art full of compassion and mercy : 
long-suffering, plenteous in goodness and truth. 

16 turn thee then unto me, and have mercy upon me : give 
thy strength unto thy servant, and help the son of thine handmaid. 

17 Shew some token upon me for good, that they w^io hate me 
may see it, and be ashamed : because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, 
and comforted me. 

Psal. ixxxvii. Fundamenta ejus. 

ER foundations are upon the holy hills : 
the Lord loveth the gates of Sion more 
than all the dwellings of Jacob. 

2 Very excellent things are spoken of 
thee : thou city of God. 

3 I will think upon Rahab and Babylon : 
with them that know me. 

4 Behold ye the Philistines also : and 
they of Tyre, with the Morians ; lo, there was he born. 

Psalm lxxxvii. — Tliis remarkable psalm describes in figm-ative language the stability of tlie 
Church, — it.:i grandeur, — the prospect of its conthiual enlargement, — and the glory which it shall 
finally derive from the blessing of the Most High. By Eahab is meant Egypt, whicl), with Babylon 
and all other heathen nations— once the bitterest enemies of the Church — shall be seen gathering 

574 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 17. 



5 And of Sion it shall be reported that he was born in her : and 
the most High shall stablish her. 

6 The Lord shall rehearse it when he writeth up the people : 
that he was born there. 

7 The singers also and trumpeters shall he rehearse : All my 
fresh springs shall be in thee. 



Psal. Ixxxviii. Bomme Beus. 

LOED God of my salvation, I have cried 
day and night before thee : let my prayer 
enter into thy presence, incline thine ear 
unto my calling. 

2 For my soul is full of trouble : and 
my life draweth nigh unto hell. 

3 I am counted as one of them that go 
^ >^ii<^^^'^r-, down into the pit : and I have been even 

as a man that hath no strength. 

4 Pree among the dead, like unto them that are w^ounded, and 
lie in the grave : who are out of remembrance, and are cut away 
from thy hand. 

5 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit : in a place of darkness, 
and in the deep. 

6 Thine indignation lieth hard upon me : and thou hast vexed 
me wdth all thy storms. 

7 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me : and made 
me to be abhorred of them. 

8 I am so fast in prison : that I cannot get forth. 

around Zion, and exclaiming, as they rejoice in the tidings of a Saviour, " Lo, there was He born !" 
This their song shall be answered by fresh assurances on the part of the Almighty Father, that 
they shall find salvation in Zion, — that the fresh springs of life are in its courts. 

Psalm lxxxviii. — This solemn and affecting psalm corresponds with the 22nd and 59th. 
Whether composed by David, or by some sorrowing believer during the captivity, it is conceived 
in language which the Church regards as that of the Eedeemer, when pouring out His soul in 
agony before His Father. He supplicated for mercy as the representative of sinners ; — He spoke 
as one upon whom the whole burden of the world's sorrows had to rest. His life was quickly 
drawing nigli unto hell,— the invisible dwelling-place of the dead ; and He was free among them, 
that is, counted as belonging to them, as a denizen of the world which has nothing to do with this. 
No expression seems omitted which may best describe the affiiction of a soul wholly bowed down, 
though not overwhelmed, with grief ; and yet when we reflect on the Saviour's sufferings, — the 
mental terrors,— the bodily agonies, — the wounds inflicted on His tender spirit by man's sin and 
ingratitude, — we feel that no language can convey to the mind an adequate conception of His 
griefs. His prayer against death, and for deliverance from all his other sorrows, was heard in 
such a sense that both He was delivered and the world with Him. He, a captive for a season, 
led captivity captive. 

575 



Day 17. 



THE PSALMS. 



9 My sight failetli for very trouble : Lord, I have called daily 
■upon thee, I have stretched forth niy hands unto thee. 

10 Dost thou shew w^onders among the dead : or shall the dead 
rise up again, and praise thee ? 

11 Shall thy loving-ldndness be shewed in the grave : or thy 
faithfulness in destruction ? 

12 Shall thy wondrous works be known in the dark : and thy 
righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten ? 

13 Unto thee have I cried, Lord : and early shall my prayer 
come before thee. 

14 Lord, why abhorrest thou my soul : and hidest thou thy face 
from me ? 

15 1 am in misery, and like unto him that is at the point to die : 
even from my youth up thy terrors have I suffered with a troubled 
mind. 

1 6 Thy wrathful displeasure goeth over me : and the fear of thee 
hath undone me. 

1 7 They came round about me daily like water : and compassed 
me together on every side. 

1 8 My lovers and friends hast thou put away from me : and hid 
mine acquaintance out of my sight. 



EVENING PRAYER 

Psal. Ixxxix. Misericordias Domini. 
,//^ Y song shall be alway of the loving-kind- 

} ^N^^ ^^^^ -^^^^ * ^^^^ mouth will I 

^ ^ ^ N ever be shewing thy truth from one gene- 



- vi;, ration to another 

^f^^ 2 For I have said, Mercy shall be set up 

^ for ever : thy truth shalt thou stablish in 

^ - M the heavens. 

1 ^ 3 Ihave made acovenant with mychosen: 

jf IS I have sworn unto David my servant ; 

m 4 Thy seed will I stablish for ever : and 

' ^ W set up thy throne from one generation to 

III another. 

5 Lord, the very heavens shall praise 

' wondrous works : and thy truth in 

the congregation of the saints. 
576 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 17. 



6 For who is lie among the clouds : that shall be compared unto 
the Lord ? 

7 And what is he among the gods : that shall be like unto the 
Lord ? 

8 Grod is very greatly to be feared in the council of the saints : . 
and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him. 

9 Lord God of hosts, who is like unto thee : thy truth, most 
mighty Lord, is on every side. 

10 Thou rulest the raging of the sea : thou stillest the waves 
thereof when they arise. 

11 Tliou hast subdued Egypt, and destroyed it : thou hast scat- 
tered thine enemies abroad with thy mighty arm. 

12 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine : thou hast laid 
the foundation of the round world, and all that therein is. 

1 3 Thou hast made the north and the south : Tabor and Hermon 
shall rejoice in thy Name. 

14 Thou hast a mighty arm : strong is thy hand, and high is 
thy right hand. 

15 Eighteousness and equity are the habitation of thy seat : 
mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 

16 Blessed is the people, Lord, that can rejoice in thee : they 
shall walk in the lig^ht of thv countenance. 

17 Their delight shall be daily in thy ^Tame : and in thy righte- 
ousness shall they make their boast. 

18 For thou art the glory of their strength : and in thy loving- 
kindness thou shalt lift up our horns. 

19 For the Lord is our defence : the Floly One of Israel is our 
King. 

20 Thou spakest sometime in visions unto thy saints, and saidst : 
I have laid help upon one that is mighty ; I have exalted one chosen 
out of the people. 

21 I have found David my servant : with my holy oil have I 
anointed him. 

22 My hand shall hold him fast : and my arm shall strengthen 
him. 

23 The enemy shall not be able to do him violence : the son of 
wickedness shall not hurt him. 

24 I will smite down his foes before his face : and plague them 
that hate him. 

25 My truth also and my mercy shall be with him : and in my 
Name shall his horn be exalted. 

577 4 E 



Daif 17. 



THE PSALMS. 



26 I will set his dominion also in the sea : and his right hand in 
the floods. 

27 He shall call me, 'ilion art my Eather : my God, and my 
strong salvation. 

28 And I mil make him my first-born : higher than the kings 
of the earth. 

29 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore : and my covenant 
shall stand fast with him. 

30 His seed also will I make to endure for ever : and his throne 
as the days of heaven. 

31 But if his children forsake my law : and walk not in my 
judgements ; 

32 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments : 
I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin wdth scourges. 

33 Nevertheless, my loving-kindness willT not utterly take from 
him : nor suffer my truth to fail. 

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone 
out of my lips : I have sworn once by my holiness, that I will not 
fail David. 

35 His seed shall endure for ever : and his seat is like as the 
sun before me. 

36 He shall stand fast for evermore as the moon : and as the 
faithful witness in heaven. 

37 But thou hast abhorred and forsaken thine Anointed : and 
art displeased at him. 

38 Thou hast broken the covenant of thy servant : and cast his 
crown to the ground. 

39 Thou hast overthrown all his hedges : and broken down his 
strong holds. 

40 All they that go by spoil him : and he is become a reproach 
to his neighbours. 

41 Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies : and made 
all his adversaries to rejoice. 

42 Thou hast taken away the edge of his sword : andgivesthim 
not victory in the battle. 

43 Thou hast put out his glory : and cast his throne down to the 
ground. 

44 The days of his youth hast thou shortened : and covered him 
with dishonour. 

45 Lord, bow long wilt thou hide thyself, for ever : and shall 
thy wrath burn like fire ? 

578 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 17. 



46 O remember how short my tmie is : wherefore hast thou 
made all men for nousrht ? 

47 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death : and 
shall he deliver his soul from the hand of hell ? 

48 Lord, where are thy old loving-kindnesses : which thou 
swarest unto David in thy truth ? 

49 Remember, Lord, the rebuke that thy servants have : and 
how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people ; 

50 Wherewith thine enemies have blasphemed thee, and slan- 
dered the footsteps of thine Anointed : Praised be the Lord for 
evermore. Amen, and Amen. 

Psalm lxxxix. — It is uncertain when this psalm was composed. Some writers conjecture that 
it was the lamentation of the Jews after the defeat of Josiah, the commencement of that series of- 
calamities under which they so long suffered. Others suppose that it was composed by Isaiah, at 
the time when Eezin and Pekah were preparing to attack Jerusalem. By whomever written, it 
expresses that feeling of confidence in God's power and readiness to deliver His people, mingled 
with that intense terror at the contemplation of his judgments, which forms a remarkable feature 
of all the psalms composed in times of calamity. The present psalm affords a striking specimen 
of the intimate communion which the saints of old held with their God. Praise, the most 
devout, is ascribed to the Lord, and the Lord's voice is heard answering the thanksgivings and 
prayers of His people, either in new revelations of His will, or in records of past mercies. " I 
have made a covenant with my chosen," is the announcement from heaven. To this, the Psalmist 
replies in the language of holy gratitude, " Lord, the very heavens shall praise thy wondrous 
works." " I liave found David my servant," is again heard from the Divine oracle ; and the 
heavenly voice continues to proclaim the glory of God's mercy, till it is met by the sad complaints 
of the humbled behever, who, not denying the goodness of the Lord, only speaks of the sorrows, 
which he tacitly acknowledges to be the result of his own errors and disobedience. The prayer 
for compassion is founded on the consideration of man's weakness and mortality. God is so 
glorious and peifect a Being, that it seems wonderful He should have given existence to a creature 
so poor and miserable, and so conscious of his misery, as man, And this feeling would be perma- 
nent in every mind, were it not for the views which revelation opens, and which explain the 
mysteries of Divine power, so as to show that the strength of God "is made perfect in weakness." 
When sin has deprived us of His favour, and we sink under the burden of om- sorrows and infir- 
mities, the reality of our entire dependence upon His mercy is brought home to the heart with 
arguments of irresistible force ; and were there no provision for our recovery, or should we fail 
of rightly seeking the means of grace, man, in our instance, would have been " made for nought." 
But the purposes of God stand fast. "All men," or the race, have brigliter prospects : and, not- 
withstanding the sorrows to which they may be subject, may rest secure that the Divine attributes 
are interested in their final recovery and victory over evil. Hence the prayer, " O remember how 
short my time is : wherefore hast thou made all men for nought f when otfered in the spirit of 
humility and faith, is an appeal to the mercy of God tliat will not remain unanswered. " Come 
and let us reason together, saith the Lord :" by this invitation man is permitted to use the language 
of argument with God : he may plead with Him that the perfection of His wisdom and mercy is 
concerned in the deliverance of the race from everlasting ruin ; and the reasoning thus employed, 
partaking of all the cliaracters of a yearning faith in God's goodness, will be allowed to prevail, 
and illustrate the heavenly sentence that "the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the 
violent take it by storm." But in this the groundwork of hope, — the means of power, — the sub- 
stance of the argument,— are derived entirely from the relation in which the supplicant stands to 
God by covenant. Lord, where are thy old loving-kindnesses : which thou swarest unto David 
in thy truth ?" Sorrow, when prompting the heart to cry for mercy, must either be able to fasten 
its claim upon some previous assurance, some mercifully-allowed right ; or it must labour to create 
such a right, by seeking for admission into that state of reconciliation in which the Divine promises 
are imparted, and fulfilled by the free Spirit of love. 
579 



THE EIGHTEENTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER 








' ' ■ i 


It 















Psal. xc. Bomine, refugium. 

OED, thou Last been our refuge : from one 
generation to another. 

2 Before the mountains were brought 
Ibrth, or ever the earth and the world were 
made : thou art God from everlasting, and 
world without end. 

3 Thou turnest man to destruction : 
again thou sa3'est, Come again, ye children of men. 

4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday : seeing 
that is past as a watch in the night, 

5 As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep : and 
fade away suddenly like the grass, 

6 In the morning it is green, and groweth up : but in the 
eveniug it is cut down, dried up, and withered. 



rsALM XC. — This psalm, wLicb is entitled a prnyer of Moses, is supposed to fiave been composed 
either after the eveut recorded in Xumbers xiv., or after some other of the occurrences which 
awakened in the souls of God's seiTants of old, convictions of the vanity of human life, and of 
tlie desolateness even of the people of the Lord, if left for a season without His grace to comfort 
and support them. 

580 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 18. 



7 For we consume away in thy displeasure : and are afraid at 
thy wrathful indignation. 

8 Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee : and our secret sins in 
the light of thy countenance. 

9 For when thou art angry all our days are gone we bring our 
years to an end, as it were a tale that is told. 

10 The days of our age are threescore years and ten ; and though 
men be so strong that they come to fourscore years : yet is their 
strength then but labour and sorrow ; so soon passeth it away, and 



we are gone. 



11 But Avho regardeth the power of thy wrath : for even there- 
after as a man feareth, so is thy displeasure. 

12 teach us to number our days : that we may apply our 
hearts unto wisdom. 

13 Turn thee again, Lord, at the last : and be gracious unto 
thy servants. 

14 satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon : so shall we 
rejoice and be glad all the daj's of our life. 

1 5 Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued 
us : and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity. 

16 Shew thy servants thy work : and their children thy glory. 

1 7 And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us : 
prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, prosper thou our 
handy- work. 

Psal. xci. Qui hahitat. 

- ^ HOSO dwelleth under the defence of the 

\ ' ''^^Wf- ' ^ ^^^^^^ ^igh. : shall abide under the shadow 
mm,L..--. , of the Almighty. 

2 I will say unto the Lord, Thou art 
my hope, and my strong hold : my God, in 

I . l^ini will I trust. 

3 For he shall deliver thee from the 
J ' snare of the hunter : and from the noisome 

pestilence. 

4 He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe 
under his feathers : his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield 
and buckler. 

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night : nor for the 
arrow that flieth bv dav ; 

581 




Day 18. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness : nor for the sick- 
ness that destroyeth in the noon-day. 

7 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right 
hand : but it shall not come nigh thee. 

8 Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold : and see the reward 
of the ungodly. 

9 For thou, Lord, art my hope : thou hast set thine house of 
defence very high. 

10 There shall no evil happen unto thee : neither shall any 
plague come nigh thy dwelling. 

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee : to keep thee 
in all thy ways. 

12 They shall bear thee in their hands : that thou hurt not thy 
foot against a stone. 

13 Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder : the young lion and 
the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet. 

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver 
him : I will set him up, because he hath known my Name. 

15 He shall call upon me, and I will hear him : yea, I am with 
him in trouble ; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour. 

16 With long life will I satisfy him : and shew him my salvation. 

Psalm xci. — As in the preceding psalm, the fii-st speaker is represented as liolding communion 
with God, and receiving blessed assurance of His protection. In the former part of the psalm, 
the answer seems given by those appointed to minister the consolation ; but in the latter, the Lord 
Himself is heard replying, " Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him." 
The highest spiritual interpretation given to this psalm supposes that the Messiah and His 
Almighty Father are the speakers. But though this view be adopted, still it is applicable to every 
true believer in Christ, through whom we have access to the throne of grace by the one sanctifying 
and eternal Spirit. That which God promised to Christ, and fulfilled in Him, He promises and 
fulfils in His people. The prophecies of this psalm were repeated in substance by the Saviour 
Himself to His disciples. They were fulfilled in their preservation amid countless dangers ; the 
followers of Christ still enjoy their fulfilment ; and in the end they will behold His salvation fully 
established in the eternal glories of the heavenly kingdom. Vievving the Divine promises thus 
set forth with a particular application to our individual state, they are eminently calculated to 
strengthen tlie heart, and establish it in the steady pursuit of the highest species of good. 
Assured that God is engaged to preserve us from harm, the anxieties, which will perplex the 
strongest minds not thus supported, assail us in vain. The whole power of the soul can, therefore, 
be employed in the direction of its original purpose ; and the energy of its hope will bear it 
sublimely over the loftiest waves of worldly turmoil. . In the ordinary pursuits of life, this will 
bestow the surest means of success ; and, in the business of salvation, who can ever hope to 
succeed without it? Everyman, when he becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ, stands immediately 
exposed to the efforts of Satan for his ruin. The opposition of the adversary may be manifested 
in a vast variety of ways; but it is always carried on with no less a design than that of the 
utter defcti-uction of the soul. At one time the raging lion, at another the venomous adder, may 
represent tlie enemy, or the evils to be met ; and against either the one or the other, there is no 
sufficient defence but the power of God, brought into action, on our side, by the prayer of faith. 
But it is not safety only, it is honour and salvation for which we strive ; and these, too, are 
attainable by the very means which are absolutely necessary for our defence. 

582 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 18. 



Psal. xcii. Bonum est confiteri. 




T is a good thing to give thanks unto the 
Lord : and to sing praises unto thy Name, 
most Highest ; 

2 To tell of thy loving-kindness early 
in the morning : and of thy truth in the 
night-season : 

3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, 
and upon the lute : upon a loud instrument, 
and upon the harp. 

4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works : and I 
will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of thy hands. 

5 Lord, how glorious are thy works : thy thoughts are very 
deep. 

6 An unwise man doth not well consider this : and a fool doth 
not understand it. 

7 When the ungodly are green as the grass, and when all the 
workers of wickedness do flourish : then shall they be destroyed for 
ever ; hut thou. Lord, art the most Highest for evermore. 

8 For lo, thine enemies, Lord, lo, thine enemies shall perish : 
and all the workers of wickedness shall be destroyed. 

9 But mine horn shall be exalted like the horn of an unicorn : 
for I am anointed with fresh oil. 

10 Mine eye also shall see his lust of mine enemies : and mine 
ear shall hear his desire of the wicked that arise up against me. 

11 The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree : and shall spread 
abroad like a cedar in Libanus. 

12 Such as are planted in the house of the Lord : shall flourish 
in the courts of the house of our God. 

13 They also shall bring forth more fruit in their age : and 
shall be fat and well-liking. 

14 That they may shew how true the Lord my strength is : and 
that there is no unrighteousness in him. 



Psalm xcit. — A psalm of tlianl:sgi\-mg awakens pleasurable emotions in the spiritual mind. It 
recalls tlie memory of former ages, when the hand of God was seen more visibly stretched forth 
from heaven to guide and bless His people. The recollection of former mercies and triumphs 
unite s itself with the hope of coming glories. Praise nm-tures faith, and faith is the elder sister 
of both hope and charity. This psalm is entitled, 'A Song for the Sabbath Day :' happy are the 
people who can thus sing praises unto the righteousness and mercy of their God ! 

583 



Bay 18. 



THE PSALMS. 



EVENING PRAYER. 

Psal. xciii. Bomimis regnavit. 

HE Lord is King, and hath put on glorious 
apparel : the Lord hath put on his apparel, 
and girded himself with strength. 

2 He hath made the round world so 
sure : that it cannot be, moved. 

3 Ever since the world began hath thy 
seat been prepared : thou art from ever- 
lasting. 

4 The floods are risen, Lord, the floods 
^ _ ^ have lift up their voice : the floods lift up 

\ V^^^^'^j'^^---^^ their waves. 

V ^ '^^^ waves of the sea are mighty, 

and rage horribly : but yet the Lord, who 
dwelleth on high, is mightier. 

6 Thy testimonies, O Lord, are very sure : holiness becometh 
thine house for ever. 





Psal. 



xciv. Deus ultionem. 



LOED God, to whom vengeance be- 
longeth : thou God, to whom vengeance 
belongeth, shew thyself. 

2 Arise, thou Judge of the world : and 
reward the proud after their deserving. 

3 Lord, how long shall the ungodly : 
how long shall the ungodly triumph? 

4 How long shall all wicked doers speak 
so disdainfully : and make such proud boasting ? 

5 They smite down thy people, Lord : and trouble thine 
heritage. 




Psalm xciil— This and the seven followmg psalms are regarded by the Jews themselves as 
clearly predicting the times of the Messiah. The present describes the Deliverer of the World, 
not as preparing to empty Himself of His glory, but in His Majesty as the Ruler of the Universe, 
and as making ready to reveal Himself to the nations whose pride He was to subdue, showing 
Himself mightier than the raging waves of their rebellious fury. It was the Messiah in His glory 
that Israel loved to contemplate. Now it is Christ on His Cross that the true believers in His 
power to save must delight to view. They know His greatness ; but His'dominion would be to tliem 
only a source of terror, were it not foi- tlie knowledge that He has suffered to make tlicm sccm-e 
under the guardians! lip of His love. 

584 



THE PSALMS, 



Bay 18. 



6 They murder the widow, and the stranger : and put the father- 
less to death. 

^ 7 And yet they say, Tush, the Lord shall not see : neither shall 
the God of Jacob regard it. 

8 Take heed, ye unwise among the people : ye fools, when 
will ye understand ? 

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear : or he that made 
the eye, shall he not see ? 

10 Or he that nurtureth the heathen : it is he that teacheth man 
knowledge, shall not he punish ? 

11 The Lord knoweththe thoughts of man : that they are but vain. 

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, Lord : and teach - 
est him in thy law ; 

13 That thou mayest give him patience in time of adversity : 
until the pit be digged up for the ungodly. 

14 For the Lord will not fail his people : neither will he forsake 
his inheritance ; 

15 Until righteousness turn again unto judgement : all such as 
are true in heart shall follow it. 

16 "Who will rise up with me against the wicked : or who will 
take my part against the evil-doers ? 

17 If the Lord had not helped me : it had not failed but my 
soul had been put to silence. 

18 But when I said, My foot hath slipt : thy mercy, O Lord, held 
me up. 

19 In the multitude of the sorrows that I had in my heart : thy 
comforts have refreshed my soul. 

20 Wilt thou have anything to do with the stool of wickedness : 
which imagineth mischief as a law ? 

21 They gather them together against the soul of the righteous : 
and condemn the innocent blood. 

22 But the Lord is my refuge : and my God is the strength of 
my confidence.' 

23 He shall recompense them their wickedness, and destroy them 
in their own malice : yea, the Lord our God shall destroy them. 

Psalm xciv.— When the people of God are filled with terror at approachmg desolation, they 
find that His mercy is their sole resource. They tiien recognise him as a Saviom- and Kedeemer; 
and, appealing from the injustice of the world to His sovereign truth, prepare a way for escape. 
An instinct of the human heart would incline it to seek the help of any mighty being in the hour 
of calamity ; but the believer has revelation, calls, and boundless promises to encourage him. He 
sighs for the hour when salvation shall be proclaimed ;— he warns the impenitent of the destruction 
with which they will be overwhelmed when God comes to judge the world : his own trials teach 
him wisdom ; and he looks from the present scene of trouble to the days when wickedness shall 
have been utterly rooted out, and, ^tith it, sin and death driven for ever from the earth. 
585 4 F 



THE NINETEENTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 





Psal. xcv. Venite, exultemus. 

COME, let us sing unto the Lord : let us 
heartily rejoice in the strength of our sal- 
vation. 

2 Let us come before his presence with 
thanksgiving : and shew ourselves glad in 
liim with psalms. 

3 Eor the Lord is a great God : and a 
great King above all gods. 

(§ 4 In his hand are all the corners of the earth : and the 
strength of the hills is liis also. 
' 5 The sea is his, and he made it : and his hands prepared 
the dry land. 

Psalm xcv. — This psalm, whicli is cited by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, iii. and iv., 
is considered as forming the introduction to a prophetic song, consisting of tive parts, this and the 
four psahns following, describing, it is supposed, successive periods of the Messiah s reign. The 
people of God are here exhorted to glorify the power whereby the heavens and earth are mled, 
and which has prepared salvation for believers to the end of the world. It is an appeal equally 
solemn and pathetic, founded at once on past experience, and on the view of mercies which, even 
in their earliest development, fill tlie soul with wonder and delight. The hour is marked when 
the realization of these things is pjossilJe : the warning given (see Exod. xvii. 7) cannot be dis- 
puted. Thousands perished when an inferior salvation was despised. How many more will there 
not be lamenting the folly of despising Divine grace, when the accounts of Christianity are 
Bummed up, and the woi'ld is reininde;! of this often-rejected admonition ! 

586 



THE psal:\is. 



Bay 19. 



6 come, let us Avorsliip and fall doAvn : and kneel before the 
Lord our ]\Iaker. 

7 For lie is the Lord our C4od : and we are the people of his 
pasture, and the sheep of his hand. 

S To-day if ye Avill hear his voice, harden not your hearts : as in 
the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the Avilderness ; 

9 T\ hen your fathers tempted me : proved me, and saw my 
works. 

10 Forty years long was I grieved Avith this generation, and 
said : It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not 
known my wavs ; 

11 L^nto whom I swear in my wrath : that they sh'r.ildnot enter 
into my rest. 

Psal. xcvi. Canted 6 Domino. 

SIXG unto the Lord a new song- : sino* 
'\ unto the Lord, all tlie whole earth. 

2 Sing unto the Lord, and praise his 
Xame : be tellino^ of his salvation from 



/ 'i- day to day. 
■ - ^ 3 Declare his honour unto the heathen : 

and his wonders unto all people. 
"^"^ -Tt^gps'-,:?? ^ -£oY the Lord is g-reat, and cannot 
worthily be praised : he is more to be feared fhan all gods. 

5 As for all the gods of the heathen, they are but idols : but it 
is the Lord that made the heavens. 

6 Glory and worship are before him : power and honour are in 
his sanctuary. 

7 Ascribe unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people : ascribe 
unto the Lord Avorship and poAver. 

8 Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his Xame : bring- 
presents, and come into his courts. 

9 Avorship the Lord in the beauty of holiness : let the whole 
earth stand in aAve of him. 

PsALii xo-i. — This noble iiATan has been regarded frorn the earliest time as referring to the 
reign of Christ. The Jews themselves have never looked fur such times of rejoicing as here 
described, but through the conquering glories of IMes^iah. A new song is sung as he goes forth 
through tlje woild, '= travehing in the greatness of His strengtli," Thelieathen hear His name of 
Lord a7id Saviour pronouuctd from a thousand messengers of mercy, and His power is shown bv 
the successive overthrow of dynasties of false gods, and the breaking up of the whole reign of 
wickedness. ^ Truth now pours fonh its unveiled beams. Holiness is" discovered as a fountain of 
light, shedding beaut}- on everytliiug that comes near it ; and the univei-se, in all its provinces, 
owns, Tivith triumphant irv. tlie presence nf its Lor.l 
587 



Day 19. 



THE PSALMS. 



10 Tell it out among tlie heathen that the Lord is King : and 
that it is he who hath made the round world so fast that it cannot 
be moved ; and how that he shall judge the people righteously. 

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad : let the 
sea make a noise, and all that therein is. 

12 Let the held be joyful, and all that is in it : then shall all 
the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord. 

13 Eor he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth : and with 
righteousness to judge the world, and the people with his truth. 



Psal. xcvii, Bominus regnavit. 




HE Lord is King, the earth may be glad 
thereof : yea, the multitude of the isles 
may be glad thereof. 

2 Clouds and darkness are round about 
him : righteousness and judgement are the 
habitation of his seat. 

3 There shall go a fire before him : and 
burn up his enemies on every side. 

4 His lightnings gave shine unto the 
world : the earth saw it, and was afraid. 

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord : at the 
presence of the Lord of the whole e?^rth. 

6 The heavens have declared his righteousness : and all the people 
have seen his glory. 

7 Confounded be all they that worship carved images, and that 
delight in vain gods : worship him, all ye gods. 

8 Sion lieard of it, and rejoiced : and the daughters of Judah 
were glad, because of thy judgements, Lord. 

Psalm xcvu— The tiom- is arrived, says tlie Psalmist, when the triumph of the Lord is com- 
plete. He has won the victory, as He fought the fight, not by a sudden exercise of His ahnighty 
power, but by the operation of those divine laws to whicli He gave, from the first, a living, 
benignant, and unconquerable energy. He now manifests Himself in His sovereignty. It is not 
to him a new possession ; for how should the Creator of all things fail to be a king :— how should 
He need to gain dominion by conquest, if considered only in his own nature and decrees ? But 
He has determined every event according to the nature and capacity of His creatures to observe 
them. For their benefit. He has tecorne a King by successive triumphs over the resistance of 
evil. The manifestations of His power have been various, in order that they might be observed 
and und^;rstood. " The Lord is King ; the earth may be glad thereof :" and » Sion heard it, and 
rejoiced :" are sentences pregnant with moaning ; for what can be a greater subject of admiration 
to the world than the victory of good over evil,— of truth over falsehood,— of life over death? 
And this is the conquest of God in Christ over Satan in the world, which is the incarnation of the 
spirit of evil. 

588 



THE PSALMS. 



Daij 19. 



9 For thou. Lord, art higher than all that are in the earth : thou 
art exalted far above all gods. 

10 je that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing which is 
evil : the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints ; he shall deliver 
them from the hand of the ungodly. 

11 There is sprung up a light for the righteous : and joyful 
gladness for such as are true-hearted. 

12 Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous : and give thanks for a 
remembrance of his holiness. 



EVENING PR AY EE. 

Psal. xcviii. Cantate Domino. 

SING- unto the Lord a new song : for he 
hath done marvellous thino's. 

2 AVith his own right hand, and with 
his holy arm : hath he gotten himself the 
victory. 

3 The Lord declared his salvation : his 
righteousness hath he openly shewed in 
the sight of the heathen. 

4 He hath remembered his mercy and 
truth toward the house of Israel : and all 
the ends of the world have seen the sal- 
vation of our God. 

5 Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, 
all ye lands : sing, rejoice, and give thanks. 

6 Praise the Lord upon the harp : sing to the harp with a psalm 
of thanksgiviug. 

7 With trumpets also, and shawms : shew yourselves joyful 
before the Lord the King. 

8 Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is : the round 




world, and they that dwell therein. 



Psalm xcath.— There is a recurrence in this psalm to the victory of Divine power and justice, 
concentrated in the person of the Messiah, over the malice of Satan. The exhortation, " Sing 
unto the Lord a new song," is repeated ; and who can meditate on the mysteries of godliness, 
as they are gradually opened to view, without feeling inspired by new thoughts,— new emotions, 
—new principles? All nature— the sea— the floods— the everlasting hills— every province of 
humanity— is interested in the sublime mysteiyof God's fighting and conquering for the salvation 
of fallen man. Melancholy is the state of^tlie heart which, when God remembereth mercy, cannot 
remember God ! 

589 



Daij 19. 



THE PSALMS. 



9 Let the floods clap their Lands, and let the hills be joyful 
together before the Lord : for he is come to judge the earth. 

10 With righteousness shall he judge the world : and the people 
with equity. 

Psal. xcix. Dominus regnavit. 

HE Lord is King, be the people never so 
^ - ^ impatient : he sitteth betw^een the cheru- 

bims, be the earth never so unquiet. 

2 The Lord is great in Sion : and high 
above all people. 

3 They shall give thanks unto th}^ 
Name : which is great, wonderful, and holy. 

4 The King' s power loveth judgement ; 
thou hast prepared equity : thou hast exe- 
cuted judgement and righteousness in Jacob. 

5 O magnify the Lord our God : and fall down before his foot- 
stool, for he is holy. 

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such 
as call upon his Name : these called upon the Lord, and he heard 
them. 

7 He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar : for they kept 
his testimonies, and the law that he gave them. 

8 Thou heardest them, O Lord our God : thou forgavest them, 
O God, and punishedst their own inventions. 

9 mxagnify the Lord our God, and w^orship him upon his 
holy hill : for the Lord our God is holy. 




Psal. c. Jubilate Deo. 

BE joyful in the Lord, all ye lands : serve 
the Lord wdth gladness, and come before 
his presence with a song. 

2 Be ye sure that the Lord he is God : 
it is he that hath made us, and not we 
ourselves : we are his people, and the 
sheep of his pasture. 

3 O go your way into his gates with 

Psalm xgix. — It is plain, from the character of this psalm, that the first object contemplated 
was the tiiumph of Jehovah in the establishment of His tlirone amid His people Israel. The 
nations of the earth opposed His electing grace, because they hated the holiness on wliich it 
acted. But sin is weak when contrasted with lioliness, in proportion as it is mighty Avhen striving 

590 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 19. 



thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise : be thankful unto him, 
and speak good of his name. 

4 For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting : and his 
truth endureth from generation to generation. 

Psal. ci. Misericordiayn et judicmm. 

Y song shall be of mercy and judgement : 
unto thee, Lord, will I sing. 

2 lefc me have understanding : in the 
way of godliness. 

3 When wilt thou come unto me : I will 
walk in my house with a perfect heart. 

4 I will take no wicked thing in hand ; 
I hate the sins of unfaithfulness : there 
shall no such cleave unto me. 

5 A fro ward heart shall depart from me : I will not know a 
wicked person. 

6 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour : him will I destroy. 

7 Whoso hath also a proud look and high stomach : I will not 
suffer him. 

8 Mine eyes look upon such as are faithful in the land : that they 
may dwell with me, 

9 Whoso leadeth a godly life : he shall be my servant. 

10 There shall no deceitful person dwxll in my house : he that 
telleth lies shall not tarr}^ in my sight. 

11 I shall soon destroy all the ungodly that are in the land : that 
I may root out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord. 

witli corrupted natures. The Lord gained a great and glorious victory, putting forth no otlier 
power than that which is tlie inseparable attribute of truth. By this He confounded tlie adver- 
saries of His mercy, and Israel saw his throne established upon Zion. This was a type of the 
triumphs of Messiah when establishing, according to the designs of the Fatlier, a more universal 
dominion, and bringing to j)erft'ction those wonderful plans, the outline only of which was traced 
in these early dispensations. 

Psalm c. — The reign of Christ commenced— the blessed results of His mercy seen in full 
operation — the Psalmist exhorts every nation of the earth, — every being that can rejoice in the 
beams of Divine love, to give praise unto the Almighty Saviom- of the race ; — to glorify the 
Lord, whose inscrutable plans have thus terminated in the everlasting happiness of His creatui es ! 

Psalm ci. — This psalm is said to have been the composition of David when he ascended the 
throne. Whether David himself or any other monarch used it on such an occasion, it is conceived 
in language especially fitted for those whose circumstances in life may give them intluence, whether 
great or small, over their fellow-creatures. It is not kings only who are inaugurated : there is 
scarcely a being in the world who dees not exercise an influence which has been solemnly given 
him by the Lord of all the earth, and which he is bound to use according to the principle spoken 
of in this psalm. 

• 591 




THE TWENTIETH DAY. 

MOENING PRAYER. 



'I' 




Psal. cii. Bomine, exaucli. 

EAE my prayer, Lord : and let my cry- 
ing come unto thee. 

2 Hide not thy face from me in the time 
of my trouble : incline thine ear unto me 
when I call ; O hear me, and that right 
soon. 

- 3 For my days are consumed away like 
smoke' : and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-brand. 

4 My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass : so 
^ that I forget to eat my bread. 

5 For the voice of my groaning : my bones will scarce 
cleave to my flesh. 

Psalm cii. — The language of this psalm has led to the conclusion tliat it vms composed by one 
of the captives in Babylon. Whenever written, it suits the suffering heart at all times, if its grief 
arise from the persecution of unrighteous enemies. But iu this, as in other psalms of a similar 
character, it is the chosen nation which may be supposed to pour forth its complaints ; or, at 
least, that portion of it which had not bowed the kuee to Baal, and therefore composed the true 
Cliurch of God. St. Paul rHeb. i. 10) gives an awfully sublime interpretation to t])e latter part 
of the psalm, representing it as the address of the Father to the Son, "Thou, Lord, in the begin- 
ning :" here the suffering people, in whose name the Psalmist speaks, uses tliese words as expressive 
of confidence in the power of the Messiah ; and the Apostle appears to have extracted them as the 

592 . 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 20. 



6 I am become like a pelican in the wilderness : and like an owl 
that is in the desert. 

7 I have watched, and am even as it were a sparrow : that sitteth 
alone upon the house-top. 

8 Mine enemies revile me all the day long : and they that are 
mad upon me are sworn together against me. 

9 For I have eaten ashes as it were bread : and mingled my 
drink with weeping ; 

10 And that because of thine indignation and wrath : for thou 
hast taken me up, and cast me down. . 

1 1 My days are gone like a shadow : and I am withered like grass. 

12 But thou, Lord, shalt endure for ever : and thy remem- 
brance throughout all generations. 

13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion : for it is time 
that thou have mercy upon her, yea, the time is come. 

14 And why? tliy servants think upon her stones : anditpitieth 
them to see her in the dust. 

15 The heathen shall fear thy Name, Lord : and all the kings 
of the earth thy Majesty ; 

16 When the Lord shall build up Sion : and when his glory 
shall appear ; 

17 When he turneth him unto the prayer of the poor destitute : 
and despiseth not their desire. 

18 This shall be written for those that come after : and the 
people w^hich shall be born shall praise the Lord. 

19 For he hath looked down from his sanctuary : out of the 
heaven did the Lord behold the earth ; 

20 That he might hear the mournings of such as are in cap- 
tivity : and deliver the children appointed unto death ; 

, 21 That they may declare the Name of the Lord in Sion : and 
his worship at Jerusalem ; 

22 When the people are gathered together : and the kingdoms 
also, to serve the Lord. 

23 He brought down my strength in my journey : and shortened 
my days. 

well-known language of the Holy Spirit in ancient days, when revealing the mysteries of the 
Messiah's glory, and teaching tlie Chui'ch how it might appeal to Him in the force of the Fatliers 
promises. The only support of the people of God, imder circumstances like those represented in 
this psalm, is the assurance that Christ remaineth the same " to-day, yesterday, and for ever." 
His power and love are equally invincible, and while faith instructs the Chm'ch to hold by Him as 
the rock that cannot be shaken, it will be enabled to endure, without harm to its vital principles, 
f>r to its prospects of felicity, the worst calamities that the world can inflict. 

593 4 G 



Bay 20. 



THE PSALMS. 



24 But I said, my God, take me not away in the midst of 
mine age : as for thy years, they endure throughout all generations. 

25 Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the 
earth : and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 

26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure : they all shall wax 
old as doth a garment ; 

27 And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be 
changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. 

28 The children of thy servants shall continue : and their seed 
shall stand fast in thy sight, 

Psal. ciii. Benedic, anima mea. 

^^-^f^S^ RAISE the Lord, my soul : and all 

^x^J^C^^'^'^^^^^i^ ^\^^\^ within me praise his holy Name, 

2 Praise the Lord, my soul : and for- 
get not all his benefits ; 

3 Who forgiveth all thy sin : and heal- 
eth all thine infirmities ; 

4 Who saveth thy life from destruction : 
and crowneth thee with mercy and loving- 
kindness ; 

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things : making thee 
young and lusty as an eagle. 

6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement : for all 
them that are oppressed with wrong. 

7 He shewed his ways unto Moses : his works unto the children 
of Israel. 

8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy : long-suffering, 
and of great goodness. 

9 He will not alway be chiding : neither keepeth he his anger 
for ever. 

10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us 
according to our wickedness. 

Psalm cni, — It is not detennined wliether tliis psalm was composed by David, or by some one 
■who lived at the time of the captivity. By whomsoever written, it was evidently the product of a 
more hopeful season than that which led to the melancholy comi:)laints of the preceding psalm. 
It is indeed a beautiful and interesting feature in the Book of God, that the saddest scenes wliich 
histoiy can present to the mind are continually illuminated by some ray of light, which, breaking 
through the clouds of sorrow, gives promise of returning peace. " Grief may endure for a night, 
but joy Cometh in the morning." This is ever the language of believers. David, in his deepest 
afflictions, could look for a resurrection to life and happiness ; and the captives in Babylon could 
turn towards Zion in the confidence that the day of return was coming. 

594 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 20. 



11 For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth : 
so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him. 

12 Look how wide also the east is from the west : so far hath 
he set our sins from us. 

13 Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is the 
Lord merciful unto them that fear him. 

14 Tor he knoweth whereof we are made ; he remembereth that 
we are but dust. 

15 The days of man are but as grass : for he flourisheth as a 
flower of the field. 

16 For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone : and the 
place thereof shall know it no more. 

17 But the merciful goodness of the Lord endurethfor ever and 
ever upon them that fear him : and his righteousness upon chil-~ 
dren's children ; 

18 Even upon such as keep his covenant : and think upon his 
commandments to do them. 

1 9 The Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven : and his king- 
dom ruleth over all. 

20 praise the Lord, ye angels of his, ye that excel iu strength : 
ye that fulfil his commandment, and hearken unto the voice of his 
words. 

210 praise the Lord, all ye his hosts : ye servants of his that 
do his pleasure. 

22 O speak good of the Lord, all ye works of his, in all places 
of his dominion : praise thou the Lord, my soul. 

Psalm civ.— This noble psalm is beautifully expressive of that fulness of love and gratitude 
which characterises a heart tmly awake to the goodness of the Almighty. Eeason teaches a 
thoughtful man that he ought to render praises to the Creator, and establishes it as a principle 
of duty to the understanding long before the heart feels a corresponding sentiment, and owns its 
power. Hence the address of the Psalmist to his own mternal being—" Praise the Lord, O ray 
soul !" which is a language that every man will readily use who knows that he ought to love 
God above all things, but cannot adore Him as he feels he should. The glory of God and the 
mercy of God are the twofold theme of tlie Psalmist's meditation. He first contemplates tlie 
Almighty Himself—" Thou deckest thyself with light ;" but this, noble as it is, is surpassed by 
the ftinguage of the evangelist, which describes God as essential light and essential love. " God 
is light !"— " God is love !" He then traces His attributes in the beings to wliich He has given 
existence. His angels, or messengers, are spirits ; His ministers are flaming fire. The earth is 
built up on everlasting foundations ; and the might of the waters, which nought else can resist, 
yields to His simplest word. Every creature to which He has given life owes its sustenance to His 
protecting mercy. The provision is made witli paternal care. It is suited to the necessity of the 
creature, with an exact attention to its character ; it is bestowed with a bounteous hand ; and the 
result of this care for the wants of each individual class is universal beauty and universal good. 
The face of this loving Father turned away, all becomes sad and desolate ; trouble first and then 
death invades the scene. Let His mercy revive, and again all becomes joy and delight ; and thus 
the contemplative mind beholds in the revolutions of the present system a type of that which will 

595 



Bay 20. 



THE PSALMS. 



EVENING PRAYER 




Psal. civ. Benedic, anima mea, 

E AISE the Lord, my soul : Lord my 
God, tlioii art become exceeding glorious ; 
thou art clothed with majesty and honour. 

2 Thou deckest thyself with light as it 
were with a garment : and spreadest out 
the heavens like a curtain. 

3 Who layetli the beams of his cham- 
bers in the waters : and maketh the clouds 
his chariot, and walketh upon the wings 
of the wind. 

4 He maketh his angels spirits : and 
his ministers a flaming fire. 

5 He laid the foundations of the earth : 
that it never should move at any time. 

6 Thou coveredst it with the deep like as with a garment : the 
waters stand in the hills. 

7 At thy rebuke they flee : at the voice of thy thunder they are 
afraid. 

8 They go up as high as the hills, and down to the valleys 
beneath : even unto the place which thou hast appointed for them. 

9 Thou hast set them their bounds which they shall not pass : 
neither turn again to cover the earth. 

10 He sendeth the springs into the rivers : which run among 
the hills. 

11 All beasts of the fields drink thereof : and the wild asses 
quench their thirst. 

12 Beside them shall the fowls of the air have their habitation : 
and sing among the branches. 

13 He watereth the hills from above : the earth is filled with 
the fruit of thy works. 

14 He bringeth forth grass for the cattle : and green herb for 
the service of men ; 

15 That he may bring food out of the earth, and wine that 
maketh glad the heart of man : and oil to make him a cheerful 
countenance, and bread to strengthen man's heart. 

take place at the final judgement, when sinners will be consumed, and the souls of the righteous 
admitted into a changeless and everlasting glory. It is supposed that this psalm was composed 
before the establishment of Israel under Moses. 

596 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 20. 



16 The trees of the Lord also are full of sap : even the cedars of 
Libanus which he hath planted ; 

17 Wherein the birds make their nests : and the fir-trees are a 
dwelling for the stork. 

18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats : and so are 
the stony rocks for the conies. 

19 He appointed the moon for certain seasons : and the sun 
knowetli his going down. 

20 Thou makest darkness that it maybe night : wherein all the 
beasts of the forest do move. 

21 The lions roaring after their prey : do seek their meat from 
God. 

22 The sun arise th, and they get them away together : and lay 
them down in their dens. 

23 Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour : until the 
evening. 

24 Lord, how manifold are thy works : in wisdom hast thou 
made them all ; the earth is full of thy riches. 

25 So is the great and wide sea also : wherein are things creep- 
ing innumerable, both small and great beasts. 

26 There go the shijDs, and there is that Leviathan : whom thou 
hast made to take his pastime therein. 

27 These wait all upon thee : that thou mayest give them meat 
in due season. 

28 When thou givest it them they gather it : and when thou 
openest thy hand they are filled with good. 

29 When thou hidest thy face they are troubled: when thou 
takest away their breath they die, and are turned again to their dust. 

30 When thou lettest thy breath go forth they shall be made : 
and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. 

31 The glorious Majesty of the Lord shall endure for ever : the 
Lord shall rejoice in his works. 

32 The earth shall tremble at the look of him : if he do but 
touch the hills, they shall smoke. 

33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live : I will praise my 
God while I have my being. 

34 And so shall my words please him : my joy shall be in the 
Lord. 

35 As for sinners they shall be consumed out of the earth, and 
the ungodly shall come to an end : praise thou the Lord, my soul, 
praise the Lord. 

597 



THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 



1 r 



1?' 




Psal. cv. Conjitemini Domino. 

GIVE thanks unto the Lord, and call 
upon his Name : tell the people what 
things he hath done. 

2 let your songs be of him, and 
praise him : and let your talking be of 
all his wondrous works. 

3 Eejoice in his holy Name : let the 
heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 

4 Seek the Lord and his strength : seek his face evermore. 




Psalm cv.— If it be a happy exercise of mind to praise God as the beneficent Lord of Nature, 
it is yet more so to acknowledge, with a wise perception of His plans, the wisdom of His providence. 
David composed this psalm at least as far as the fifteenth verse, when he placed the ark of God 
in the midst of the tabernacle on Mount Sion (1 Chron. xvi.) ; and it was afterwards used as a 
Passover hymn. The history of Israel afibrded the most convincing proofs of the presence of God 
among His people ; and this subject was the best fitted of all others to interest the nation when 
called upon to glorify the Lord in the beauty of holiness. From the calling of Abraham to the 
setting up of the tabernacle on Sion, the out-stretched hand of the Lord, or the secret workings of 
His gTace, had continued to efiect for Israel the most wonderful series of deliverances and triumphs. 
Tliat which was done for the people of old has been done for the Church of Christ. Established, 
like the chosen nation, on a covenant, it has been carried forward by the protecting power of God, 

598 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 21. 



5 Eemember the marvellous works that he hath done : his 
wonders, and the judgements of his mouth, 

6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant : ye children of Jacob his 
chosen , 

7 He is the Lord our God : his judgements are in all the world. 

8 He hath been alway mindful of his covenant and promise : 
that he made to a thousand generations ; 

9 Even the covenant that he made with Abraham : and the 
oath that he sware unto Isaac ; 

10 And appointed the same unto Jacob for a law : and to Israel 
for an everlasting testament ; 

11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan : the lot of 
your inheritance ; 

12 When there were yet but a few of them : and they strangers 
in the land ; 

13 What time as they went from one nation to another : from 
one kingdom to another people ; 

14 He suffered no man to do them wrong : but reproved even 
kings for their sakes ; 

15 Touch not mine Anointed : and do my prophets no harm, 

16 Moreover, he called for a dearth upon the land : and de- 
stroyed all the provision of bread. 

17 But he had sent a man before them : even Joseph, who was 
sold to be a bond-servant ; 

18 Whose feet they hurt in the stocks : the iron entered into 
his soul ; 

19 Until the time came that his cause was known : the word of 
the Lord tried him. 

20 The king sent, and delivered him : the prince of the people 
let him go free. 

21 He made him lord also of his house : and ruler of all his 
substance ; 

22 That he might inform his princes after his will : and teach 
his senators wisdom. 

23 Israel also came into Egypt : and Jacob was a stranger in 
the land of Ham. 

increasing in extent, and acquiring from age to age, fresh importance as the minister of Divine 
mercy to the world at large. The ark and the mercy-seat are now to be sought in the opened 
sanctuary of Heaven itself. Contemplating them placed there as they once were on Sion, the 
people of Christ rejoice to think of the events whereby they have been brought to their present 
happy condition, — a condition full of prorhise, abounding in privileges, and introductory to one of 
changeless perfection, 

599 



Baij 21. 



THE PSALMS. 



24 And he increased his people exceedingly : and made them 
stronger than their enemies ; 

25 Whose heart turned so, that they hated his people : and 
dealt untruly with his servants. 

26 Then sent he Moses his servant : and Aaron whom he had 
chosen. 

2 7 And these shewed his tokens among them : and wonders in 
the land of Ham. 

28 He sent darkness, and it was dark : and they were not obe- 
dient unto his word. 

29 He turned their waters into blood : and slew their fish. 

30 Their land brought forth frogs : yea, even in their king's 
chambers. 

3 1 He spake the word, and there came all manner of fiies : and 
lice in all their quarters. 

32 He gave them hail-stones for rain : and flames of fire in their 
land. 

33 He smote their vines also and fig-trees : and destroyed the 
trees that were in their coasts. 

34 He spake the word, and the grasshoppers came, and cater- 
pillars innumerable : and did eat up all the grass in their land, and 
devoured the fruit of their ground. 

35 He smote all the first-born in their land : even the chief of 
all their strength. 

3 6 He brought them forth also with silver and gold : there was 
not one feeble person among their tribes. 

37 Egypt was glad at their departing : for they were afraid of 
them . 

38 He spread out a cloud to be a covering : and fire to give 
light in the night season. 

39 At their desire he brought quails : and he filled them with 
the bread of heaven. 

40 He opened the rock of stone, and the waters fiowed out ; so 
that rivers ran in the dry places. 

41 For why ? he remembered his holy promise : and Abraham 
his servant. 

42 And he brought forth his people with joy : and his chosen 
with gladness ; 

43 And gave them the lands of the heathen : and they took the 
labours of the people in possession ; 

44 That they might keep his statutes : and observe his laws. 

600 



THE PSALMS. 



Daij 21. 



E VEXING PEA YE E. 




Psal. cvi. Confitemini Domino. 

GflYE thanks unto the Lord, for he is 
gracious : audhis mercy endureth for ever. 

2 Who can express the noble acts of the 
Lord : or shew forth all his praise? 

3 Blessed are thej that alway keep 
judgement : and do righteousness. 

4 Eemember me, Lord, accordinu- to 
tne favour that thou bearest unto thy peo- 
ple : visit me with thy salvation ; 

5 That I may see the fehcity of tliy 
chosen : and rejoice in the gladness of thy 
people, and give thanks with thine inherit- 
ance. 

6 We have sinned with our fathers : we 
have done amiss, and dealt wickedly. 

7 Our fathers regarded not thy wonders in Egypt, neither kept 
they thy great goodness in remembrance : but were disobedient at 
the sea, even at the Eed sea. 

8 Xevertheless, he helped them for his Name's sake : that he 
might make his power to be known. 

9 He rebuked the Eed sea also, and it was dried up : so he led 
them through the deep, as through a wilderness. 

10 And he saved them from the adversary's hand : and delivered 
them from the hand of the enemy. 

11 As for those that troubled them, the waters overwhelmed 
them : there was not one of them left. 

12 Then believed they his words : and sang praise unto him. 

13 But within a while they forgat his works : and would not 
abide his counsel. 

14 But lust came upon them in the wilderness : and they 
tempted God in the desert. 

15 And he gave them their desire : and sent leanness withal 
into their soul. 

16 They angered Moses also in the tents : and Aaron the saint 
of the Lord. 

17 So the earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan : and covered 
the congregation of Abiram. 

601 4 H 



Bay 21. 



THE PSALMS. 



18 And the fire was kindled in their company : the flame burnt 
up the ungodly. 

19 They made a calf in Horeb : and worshipped the molten 
image. 

20 Thus they turned their glory : into the similitude of a calf 
that eateth hay. 

21 And they forgat God their Saviour : who had done so great 
things in Egypt ; 

22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham : and fearful things by 
the lied sea. 

23 So he said, he would have destroyed them, had not Moses 
his chosen stood before him in the gap : to turn away his wrathful 
indignation, lest he should destroy them. 

24 Yea, they thought scorn of that pleasant land : and gave no 
credence unto his word ; 

25 But murmured in their tents : and hearkened not unto the 
voice of the Lord. 

26 Then hft he up his hand against them : to overthrow them 
in the wilderness ; 

27 To cast out their seed among the nations : and to scatter 
them in the lands. 

28 They joined themselves unto Baalpeor : and ate the oflerings 
of the dead. 

29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their own inventions : 
and the plague was great among them. 

30 Then stood up Phinees and prayed : and so the plague 
ceased. 

31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness : among 
all posterities for evermore. 

32 They angered him also at the waters of strife : so that he 
punished Moses for their sakes ; 

33 Because they provoked his spirit : so that he spake unad- 
visedly with his lips. 

34 Neither destroyed they the heathen : as the Lord commanded 
them ; 

35 But were mingled among the heathen : and learned their 
works. 

36 Insomuch that they worshipped their idols, which turned to 
their own decay : yea, they offered their sons and their daughters 
unto devils ; 

37 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and 

602 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 21. 



of their daughters : whom they offered unto the idols of Canaan ; 
and the land was defiled with blood. 

38 Thus were they stained with their own works : and went a 
whoring with their own inventions. 

39 Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his 
people : insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. 

40 And he gave them over into the hand of the heathen : and 
they that hated them were lords over them. 

41 Their enemies oppressed them : and had them in subjection. 

42 Many a time did he deliver them : but they rebelled against 
him with their own inventions, and were brought down in their 
wickedness. 

43 Nevertheless, when he saw their adversity : he heard their 
complaint. 

44 He thought upon his covenant, and pitied them, according 
unto the multitude of his mercies : yea, he made all those that led 
them away captive to pity them. 

45 Deliver us, Lord our God, and gather us from among the 
heathen : that we may give thanks unto thy holy Name, and make 
our boast of thy praise. 

46 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and 
world without end : and let all the people say, Amen, 

Psalm cvi.— This psalm is supposed to have been composed during the captivity of the ten ' 
tribes. It is penitential, and expressive of that sincere humility which evidently inspires the heart 
when, in the hour of suffering, it can delight to acknowledge both the righteousness and the good- 
ness of God. A humility of this kind fosters hope better than the proudest spirit ; and thus the 
psalm begins with an expression of sure confidence in the enduring nature of Divine mercy, and 
with a prayer for favour and salvation, conceived in language which evinces the presence of a 
filial feeling,— the only state of mind or heart which gives true fervour to supplication. The in- 
stances of ingratitude towards God are numberless. This is acknowledged by the least spiritual ; 
and to the more faithful they present a spectacle which drives them back upon themselves^ 
bowed down with grief at such a proof of the depravity of our common nature. The long-sufier- 
ing of God in these earlier strivings of His people taught the captive tribes still to look for 
mercy. They found it ; but, presuming on the mercy of God to the insulting of His holiness and 
His justice, they at lengtli fell, never to rise again, except through the eflScacy of a covenant 
which put an end to that under which they had reigned and sinned,— triumphed and fallen. So ■ 
manifest is the goodness of God m His dealings with Israel, that every nation might properly 
exclaim, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and world without end!" The 
mercy exercised towards the one had an intimate connexion with the prospects of the rest. Had 
the Almighty not treated Israel with so much compassion, the world at large would have 
been as great a sufferer as the chosen nation itself. The grace and knowledge of which it was the 
depository were given in trust for mankind at large ; and had they been taken away before the 
Gentiles were prepared to receive the intended mercy themselves, the world would have been 
deprived of all hope of regeneration, and would soon have exhibited melancholy proofs of lifeless- 
ness and utter desolation. Thus the fatherly goodness with which the Almighty fostered Israel 
was mercy to mankind at large ; and to the latest day of the world's existence will the believer 
exclaim, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and world without end 1" 



603 



THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY. 



MORNING PRAYEE. 






Psal. cvii. Confitemini Domino. 

GIVE thanlvs unto tlie Lord, for he is 
gracious : and his mercy endure th for ever. 

2 Let them give thanks whom the Lord 
hath redeemed : and delivered from the 
hand of the enemy ; 

3 And gathered them out of the lands, 
from the east, and from the west : from 

the north, and from the south. 

4 They went astray in the wilderness out of the way : and found 
no city to dwell in ; 

5 Hungry and thirsty : their soul fainted in them. 

Psalm cvn. — As the preceding psalm was composed during the captivity of tlie ten tribes, and 
probably when the hope of deliverance was dawning, so was this written, it is conjectured, as a 
song of triumph, commemorating the long-looked-for restoration. It is always delightful to con- 
template mankind recovering peace and prosperity after a severe season of affliction ; but tlie 
circiunstances under which the people of Israel were placed rendered their restoration a subject 
of deeper interest to the mind. Tlieir reverses sprung not from the operation of causes ordinarily 
in action.. They were placed under the immediate influence of God's Spirit, and under the more 
direct power of His providence. This was done -not out of especial regard to them, considered 
independently of the great purposes of merC)^ but that the working of those mighty elements of 
love might be distinctly seen, out of which the Almighty Father was willing to create a system 
for the salvation of the whole world. The rise and fall of Israel was an index whereby to study 

604 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 22. 



6 So they cried unto the Lord in their trouble : and he delivered 
them from their distress. 

7 He led them forth by the right way : that they might go to 
the city where they dwelt. 

8 that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness : 
and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men 1 

9 For he satisfieth the empty soul : and filleth the hungry soul 
with goodness. 

10 Such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death : being 
fast bound in miser}^ and u^on ; 

11 Because they rebelled against the words of the Lord : and 
lightly regarded the counsel of the most Highest ; 

12 He also brought down their heart through heaviness : they 
feU down, and there was none to help them. 

13 So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble : he deli- 
vered them out of their distress. 

14 For he brought them out of darkness, and out of the shadow 
of death : and brake their bonds in sunder. 

15 that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness : 
and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! 

16 For he hath broken the gates of brass : and smitten the bars 
of iron in sunder. 

17 Foolish men are plagued for their offence : and because of 
their wickedness. 

18 Their soul abhorred all manner of meat : and they were even 
hard at death's door. 

19 So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble : he deli- 
vered them out of their distress. 

20 He sent his word, and healed them : and they were saved 
from their destruction. 

21 that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness : 
and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! 

22 That they would offer unto him the sacrifice of thanksgiving : 
and tell out his works with gladness ! 

23 They that go down to the sea in ships : and occupy their 
business in great waters; 

the consequences, to be expected in all ages, from tlie manner in wliich Divine grace is employed. 
" Whoso is wise," says the Psalmist, "will ponder these things, and they shall understand the 
loving-kindness of the Lord." The present psalm is a noble lesson of gratitude to the souls of 
God's people. They have deliverances of which to sing. Their present freedom is a state that 
has succeeded to bondage ; and the blessings which it bestows are to be preserved by an unceasing 
communion with God in the way of faith and obedience. 

605 



Baij 22. 



THE PSALMS. 



24 These men see the works of the Lord : and his wonders in 
tlie deep. 

25 For at his word the stormy wind ariseth : which lifteth up 
the waves thereof. 

26 They are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the 
deep : their soul melteth away because of the trouble. 

27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man : and 
are at their wit's end, 

28 So when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble : he deli- 
vereth them out of their distress. 

29 For he maketh the storm to cease : so that the waves thereof 
are still. 

30 Then are they glad, because they are at rest : and so he 
bringeth them unto the haven where they w^otdd be. 

310 that men would therefore praise the Lord for his good- 
ness : and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of 
men ! 

32 That they would exalt him also in the congregation of the 
people : and praise him in the seat of the elders ! 

33 Who turneth the floods into a wilderness : and drieth up the 
water-springs, 

34 A fruitful land maketh he barren : for the wickedness of 
them that dwell therein. 

35 Again, he maketh the wilderness a standing water : and 
water-springs of a dry ground. 

3 6 And there he setteth the hungry : that they may build them 
a city to dwell in ; 

37 That they may sow their land, and plant vineyards : to yield 
them fruits of increase. 

38 He blesseth them, so that they multiply exceedingly : and 
suffereth not their cattle to decrease. 

39 And again, when they are minished, and brought low : 
through oppression, through any plague, or trouble ; 

, 40 Though he suffer them to be evil intreated through tyrants : 
and let them wander out of the way in the wilderness ; 

41 Yet helpeth he the poor out of misery : and maketh him 
housholds like a flock of sheep. 

42 The righteous will consider this, and rejoice : and the mouth 
of all wickedness shall be stopped. 

43 Whoso is wise will ponder these things : and they sliall 
understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. 

606 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 22. 



EVENING PRAYER. 



Psal. cviii. Paratu 



m cor mewn. 




GOD, my heart is ready, my heart is ready : 
I will sing and give praise with the best 
member that I have. 

2 Awake, thou lute, and harp : I my- 
self will awake right early. 

3 I will give thanks unto thee, Lord, 
among the people : I will sing praises unto 
thee among the nations. 

4 For thy mercy is greater than the 
heavens : and thy truth reacheth unto the 
clouds. 

5 Set up thyself, God, above the 
heavens : and thy glory above all the earth. 

6 That thy beloved may be delivered : 
let thy right hand save them, and hear thou me. 

7 God hath spoken in his holiness : I will rejoice therefore, and 
divide Sichem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. 

8 Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine : Ephraim also is the 
strength of my head. 

9 Judah is my law-giver, Moab is my washpot : over Edom wdll 
T cast out my shoe ; upon Philistia will I triumph. 

10 Who will lead me into the strong city and who will bring 
me into Edom ? 

11 Hast not thou forsaken us, God : and wilt not thou, 
God, go forth with our hosts ? 

12 help us against the enemy : for vain is the help of man. 

13 Through God we shall do great acts : and it is he that shall 
tread down our enemies. 



Psalm cvm. — This psalm is formed from the 57tli and the 60th. The beginning of the latter 
psalm, in its original position, referred to a period of great trouble; but the object of the Psalmist, 
in the present, was to glorify God for many and wonderful mercies. He speaks of his own vic- 
tories, but by those victories he prophetically learned to view the triumphs of Messiah. The ninth 
verse is somewhat ditFerent to the corresponding passage in the 60th psalm. There the Psalmist 
says, " Philistia, be thou glad of me," which has apparently a contrary sense to that here em- 
ployed. It is supposed that in the former case the Psalmist spoke in the language of scornful 
irony ; while in the present he openly declares his confidence in the power which God has given 
him to beat down the proudest of his foes. The most interesting featm-e in the composition is 
derived from the mingled assurance and humility with which he was inspired. He had no trust 
in himself, or in man, but his faith in God filled him with heroic virtue. 
607 



Baij 22. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. cix. Deus laud 



um. 




OLD not thy tongue, God of my praise : 
for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the 
mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me. 

2 And they have spoken against me 
with false tongues : they compassed me 
about also with words of hatred, and 
fought against me without a cause. 

3 For the love that I had unto them, lo, 
they take now my contrary part : but I give myself unto prayer. 

4 Thus have they rewarded me evil for good : and hatred for 
my good will. 

5 Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him : and let Satan 
stand at his right hand. 

6 When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned : and 
let his prayer be turned into sin. 

7 Let his days be few : and let another take his office. 

8 Let his children be fatherless : and his wife a widow. 

9 Let his children be vagabonds, and beg their bread : let them 
seek it also out of desolate places. 

10 Let the extortioner consume all that he hath : and let the 
stranger spoil his labour. 

11 Let there be no man to pity him : nor to have compassion 
upon his fatherless children. 

12 Let his posterity be destroyed : and in the next generation 
let his name be clean put out. 

13 Let the w^ickedness of his fathers be had in remembrance in 
the sight of the Lord : and let not the sin of his mother be done 
away. 

14 Let them alway be before the Lord : that he may root out the 
memorial of them from off the earth ; 

15 And that, because his mind was not to do good : but perse- 
cuted the poor helpless man, that he might slay him that was 
vexed at the heart. 

16 His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen unto him : 
he loved not blessing, therefore shall it be far from him. 

1 7 He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment : and 
it shall come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. 

18 Let it be unto him as the cloke that he hath upon him : and 
as the girdle that he is alway girded withal. 

608 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 22. 



1 9 Let it thus happen from the Lord unto mine enemies : and 
to those that speak evil against my soul. 

20 But deal thou with me, Lord God, according unto thy 
Name : for sweet is thy mercy. 

21 O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor : and my heart is 
wounded within me. 

22 I go hence like the shadow that departeth : and am driven 
away as the grasshopper. 

23 My knees are weak through fasting : my flesh is dried up for 
want of fatness. 

24 I became also a reproach unto them : they that looked upon 
me shaked their heads. 

25 Help me, Lord my God : save me according to thy 
mercy ; 

26 And they shall know, how that this is thy hand : and that 
thou. Lord, hast done it. 

27 Though they curse, yet bless thou : and let them be con- 
founded that rise up against me ; but let thy servant rejoice. 

28 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame : and let them 
cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a cloke. 

29 As for me, I will give great thanks unto the Lord with ray 
mouth : and praise him among the multitude ; 

30 Eor he shall stand at the right hand of the poor : to save 
his soul from unrighteous judges. 

Psalm cix. — It is evident that this psahn was composed at some period of great sutFering, 
most probably by David, at the time when he was in hourly danger of falling under the hand of 
Saul. The passages translated as imprecations might, as in other instances, be rendered with 
equal propriety in the future tense, so as to make them prophecies rather than curses. But, in 
whichever way taken, the psalm is considered as representing the sorrows of Christ rather than 
those of David. Viewed in this light, every expression acquires additional force. The afflictions 
of the Saviour were in all respects more terrible, and. more real, than those of David. His 
enemies manifested a malice unexampled even in the annals of human wickedness ; and the 
means of sorrow seem to have been employed to the uttermost, that nothing might be left undone 
which could try the heart and spirit of the Saviour. The willing perpetrators of these cruelties 
were the enemies of humanity. All nature is interested in tlie defeat of the power under the 
impulse of which they acted ; the day of peace and joy cannot arrive till they are finally cast 
down ; and the punishment whicli will then attend them will in every point answer to the awful 
prophecies of this psalm. The Christian, in thinking upon his own trials, will find them lightened 
when faith and love dispose him to view them but as a part of the sufferings which the enemy of 
holiness still hopes to inflict on the body of Christ. In the Church and its members Satan beholds 
the Saviour still present on the earth. He rages against them as he did against the Lord Him- 
self ; and to suffer with them for the sake of God, is to secure a share in the Kedeemer's glory. 



609 



THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY. 



MOENING PRAYER 




Psal. ex. Bixit Dominus. 

HE Lord said unto my Lord : Sit thou 
on my right hand, until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool. 

2 The Lord shall send the rod of thy 
power out of Sion : be thou ruler, even in 
the midst among thine enemies. 

3 In the day of thy power shall the 
people offer thee free-will offerings with an holy worship : the dew 
of thy birth is of the worab of the morning. 

4 The Lord sware, and will not repent : Thou art a Priest for 
ever after the order of Melchisedech. 




Psalm ex. — Our Lord Himself alluded to this psalm in proof of His divinity (Matth. xxii. 43). 
Tiie Jews appear to have acknowledged that the person addressed by the Father was the Messiah ; 
and as it was David who spoke of Him as His Lord, both the pre-existence and the divinity of 
the Saviour were plainly demonstrated. St. Peter cites it as a prophecy of our Lord's ascension 
(Acts ii. 34), and St. Paul in a similar manner (1 Cor. xv. 25; Heb. v. 6). Short as is the psahn, 
it is full of divine mysteries. After it has alluded in so clear a manner to the godhead of Christ, 

610 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 23 



5 The Lord upon thy right hand : shall wound even kings in 
the day of his wrath. 

6 He shall judge among the heathen ; he shall fill the places 
with the dead bodies : and smite in sunder the heads over divers 
countries. 

7 He shall drink of the brook in the way : therefore shall he 
lift up his head. 



Psal. cxi. Confiiebor tibi. 

JJf^^^^ . ^^^^ WILL give thanks unto the Lord with 
||" my whole heart : secretly among the 
; faithful, and in the congregation. 

r ^ ' /li 2 The works of the Lord are OTeat ^ 

sought out of all them that have pleasure 
I therein. 

^^^<i. ^( 3 Llis work is worthy to be praised, 

' - ^^^--4(— -Ur^ and had in honour : and his righteousness 
endureth for ever. 

4 The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous 
works : that they ought to be had in remembrance. 

5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him : he shall ever 
be mindful of his covenant. ^ 

6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works : that he 
may give them the heritage of the heathen. 

7 The works of his hands are verity and judgement : all his 
commandments are true. 



it speaks of His sovereignty, acquired by suifering, exercised in the midst of His enemies, but at 
length willingly acknowledged by the world at large. Commentators have doubted concerning 
the interpretation of the sentence, " The dew of thy birth is of the womb of the morning." By some 
it is supposed to refer to the eternal generation of Christ from the Father ; by others, to the rise, 
increase, and spiritual graces of His people. The uext verse speaks of His priesthood, in which so 
many of those mysteries are involved that concern His ofiices of a Redeemer and a Mediator ; 
while, from the nature of that priesthood, it being after the order of Melchisedech, who was king 
and priest too, His royalty and dominion are again brought to view. In the combined attributes 
of these characters. He goes forth to conquer, His holiness and love subduing the willing hearts 
of those who look for salvation ; and the power of His arm, by successive providential or mira- 
culous interferences, obliging the mightiest of His enemies to bow their heads. He drank of the 
brook in the way, humble and meek, and, therefore, is He exalted ; or, by another interpretation, 
He refreshed Himself with living waters, and then went on to conquer gloriously. 

Psalm cxi. — This sweet and soothing hymn expresses the feelings of a devout heart when, free 
from pressing troubles, it is at liberty to meditate calmly on the perfection of God's works. His 
mercy supplies the wants of His people by the most wonderful provisions ; and they are delivered 
from their enemies by exercises of sovereign power no less awful than marvellous. Whatever He 
does is an illustration of His perfections ; and the fear of the Lord, nurtured by the consideration 
of His wondrous acts, is both the beginning, and the grandest exercise, of wisdom. 

611 



Day 23. 



THE PSALMS. 




8 They stand fast for ever and ever : and are done in truth and 
equity. 

9 He sent redemption unto his people : he hath commanded his 
covenant for ever ; holy and reverend is his Name. 

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : a good 
understanding have all they that do thereafter ; the praise of it 
endureth for ever. 

Psal. cxii. Beatus vir. 

LESSED is the man that feareth the 
Lord : he hath great delight in his com- 
mandments. 

2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth : 
the generation of the faithful shall be 
blessed. 

3 Riches and plenteousness shall be in 
his house : and his righteousness endureth 
for ever. 

4 Unto the godly there ariseth up light in the darkness : he is 
merciful, loving, and righteous, 

5 A good man is merciful, and lendeth : and will guide his 
words with discretion. 

6 Eor he shall never be move# : and the righteous shall be had 
in everlasting remembrance. 

7 He will not be afraid of any evil tidings : for his heart stand- 
eth fast, and belie vetli in the Lord. 

8 His heart is established, and will not shrink : until he see his 
desire upon his enemies. 

9 He hath dispersed abroad, and given to the poor : and his 
righteousness remaineth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with 
honour. 

10 The ungodly shall see it, and it shall grieve him : he shall 
gnash with his teeth, and consume away ; the desire of the un- 
godly shall perish. 

Psalm cxn. — The liappy condition of the righteous, as contrasted with that of the wicked, is 
beautifully described in this psalm. The love of God's coKimandments is itself a delight, fur- 
nishing the mind with a succession of tlie most soothing thoughts, and filling the heart with 
peace. To this habitual comfort are added assurances of future good. The noblest species of 
prosperity may be looked for ; and out of the very darkness which will sometimes mark the 
course of human life, new liglit shall spring, as if it had been hoarded up in the cloud, to make 
the next day richer in hope and liappiness. Evil tidings, therefore, terrify not the righteous. 
He knows in whom he has trusted; and, fulfilling in tranquil steadfastness the duties of faitli 
and mercy, he at length enters into everlasting peace. 

612 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 23. 




Psal. cxiii. Laudate, pueri. 

EAISE the Lord, ye servants : praise 
the Name of the Lord. 

2 Blessed be the ]Srame of the Lord : 
from this time forth for evermore. 

3 The Lord's ISTame is praised : from 
the rising up of the sun unto the going 
down of the same. 

4 The Lord is high above all heathen : 
and his glory above the heavens. 

5 Who is like unto the Lord our God, that hath his dwelHng 
so high : and yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are 
in heaven and earth ? 

6 He taketh up the simple out of the dust : and lifteth the poor 
out of the mire ; 

7 That he may set him with the princes : even with the princes 
of his people. 

8 He maketh the barren woman to keep house : and to be a 
joyful mother of children. 

Psalm cxm.— The name of the Lord claims the homage of His creatures from one end of the 
earth to the other, and throughout all generations. This is a lesson taught by reason as well as 
revelation ; but the Psalmist adds an argument which awakens the heart to join in the sublime 
chorus :— God is merciful as He is mighty. The poorest of His creatures is enriched by His 
goodness ; and the most desolate can secure in the hour of oppression the hosts of heaven for 
his help. Eevelation under the Law, as well as under the Gospel, affords us the most comforting 
view of the Divine attributes. Power and majesty are the qualities of Deity upon which the mind 
most naturally fixes its attention. There is nothing more awful than the name of God, and to 
appease His wrath, or conciliate His favour, by demonstrations of the terror with which His 
judgments are regarded, has always been the first object with mankind in listening to religion. 
Had we been left without a revelation, there is the greatest reason for believing that the feeling 
of dread in respect to God would have always continued too strong for the cherishing of any 
sentiment of love, or filial reverence. The Law was established to prove the sovereignty of God, 
and the grandeur of its ordhiances— the severity of its penalties— the mysterious solemnity of its 
types and prophecies -impressed the hearts of those who were subject to its dictates with fear 
and trembling at the mention of the name Jehovah. " Ye are not come unto the Mount," says 
the Apostle, in contrasting the Law with the Gospel, " that might be touched, and that burned 
with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest; and the sound of a trumpet, and the 
voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to 
them any more ; for they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast 
touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart : and so terrible was the 
sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." (Heb. xii. 18—21.) But awful as were 
the impressions thus left on the mind by the severity of the Law, the dispensation which it in- 
ti-oduced was a medium of Divine mercy to mankind, and God was revealed not only as a mighty 
Sovereign, ready to defend His people by the exercise of His irresistible power, but as a loving 
Father : " They shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty " (2 Cor. vi. 18.) ; 
and, " Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell 
in the high and holy pfece, witli him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the 
spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah Ivii. 15.) In the 
feeling with which passages like these were penned, the Psalmist spoke, and in this manner the 
Gospel was, as it were, " preached beforehand " unto all God's people. 

613 



Daij 23. 



THE PSALMS. 




EVENING PKAYER. 

Psal. cxiv. In exitu Israel. 

HEN Israel came out of Egypt : and the 
' '^"^ house of Jacob from among the strange 

V- people, 

2 Judah was his sanctuary : and Israel 
} his dominion. 
^: 3 The sea saw that, and fled : Jordan 

'"'^ was driven back. 
\t^' 4 The mountains skipped like rams : 

and the little hills like young sheep. 

5 What aileth thee, O thoa sea, that 
thou fleddest : and thou Jordan, that thou 
'^irt wast driven back ? 

I 6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like 
* - rams : and ye little hills, like young sheep? 

7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord : at the 
presence of the God of Jacob ; 

8 Who turned the hard rock into a standing water : and the 
flintstone into a springing well. 

Psal. cxv. Non nohis, Bomine. 

OT unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto 
thy Name give the praise : for thy loving 
mercy, and for thy truth's sake. 

2 Wherefore shall the heathen say : 
Where is now tlieir Grod? 
^ I 3 As for our God, he is in heaven : he 

F ^ J hath done whatsoever pleased him. 

4 Their idols are silver and gold : even 
the work of men's hands. 
5 They have mouths, and speak not : eyes have they, and see 
not. 

Psalm cxrv\ — This hymn, which is numbered among those used at the Passover, describes 
the feeh'ng of joy whicli the chosen people continued to experience at the recollection of their 
first great deliverance from Egypt. It was probably composed after the captivity in Babylon, 
their return from w^hich was another instance of the power of God exercised in their favour ; but 
ill the former it was like a rushing mighty wind, — in the latter like the secret breath of the air, 
working its purposes untraced. 

614 




THE PSALMS. 



Daij 23. 



6 They have ears, and hear not : noses have they, and smell 
not. 

7 They have hands, and handle not ; feet have they, and walk 
not : neither speak they through their throat. 

8 They that make them are like unto them : and so are all such 
as put their trust in them. 

9 But thou, house of Israel, trust thou in the Lord : he is their 
succom* and defence. 

10 Ye house of Aaron, put your trust in the Lord : he is their 
helper and defender. 

11 Ye that fear the Lord, put your trust in the Lord : he is 
their helper and defender. 

12 The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us : even 
he shall bless the house of Israel, he shaU bless the house of Aaron.- 

13 He shall bless them that fear the Lord : both small and 
great. 

14 The Lord shall increase you more and more : you and your 
children. 

15 Ye are the blessed of the Lord : who made heaven and earth. 

16 All the whole heavens are the Lord's : the earth hath he 
given to the children of men. 

17 The dead praise not thee, Lord : neither all they that go 
down into silence. 

18 But we wiU praise the Lord : from this time forth for ever- 
more. Praise the Lord. 

Psalm cxv.— It is uncertain on what occasion this psalm was composed. Some commentators 
ascribe it to Moses, when on the shores of the Bed Sea ; otliers attribute it to David, and some 
suppose it to have been written on the miraculous defeat of the army of Sennacherib. But it is 
not necessary, for its practical application, that we should know on what occasion it was written. 
To human strength or wisdom can be ascribed none of the more important deliverances of the 
people of God, or of mankind at large, from the calamities which threatened them with destruc- 
tion. The worsliip of the mighty Being to whom they are indebted for whatever of good or free- 
dom they enjoy, is a duty eminently consistent with the principles of our nature. In the grand 
contests for power which Satan has prompted the world to undertake, the Majesty of God's 
authority has been nobly vindicated against the ministers of fraud and darkness. With the sub- 
lime instances thus afforded of the superiority of the Almighty to Satan, the world, and its gods, 
how melancholy is the blindness of mankind when they strive to set up tlieir idols on the throne 
of the Almighty! "The dead praise not thee, O Lord,' says the Psalmist. This is as true 
spuitually as it is literally; and when the heart is full of grief and apprehension, lest it should 
not be properly alive to the claims of holiness, it may rightly use these words in its prayer for 
grace. God will not refuse to listen to the humble argument of the soul bowed down with sor- 
row because it cannot serve Him as it feels it ought, " The dead cannot praise tbee, O Lord 
and Thou alone canst give life and light : bestow Thou, then, the quickening Spmt : say to me. 
Awake, and pour into the depths of my reanimated being the fulness of Tiiy grace. Then shall 
I be enabled to rise and serve Thee : then shalt Thou hear from my lips the joyful song of 
gi-atitude, and I will praise Thee for evermore as my Saviour and my God. 
615 



THE TTTENTY-rOtTETH DAY. 

MORNING PEAYER. 







Psal. cxyi. Dilexi, quomam. 

AM well pleased : that tlie Lord liatli 
heard the voice of my prayer ; 

2 That he hath inclined his ear unto 
me : thej-efore will I call upon him as long 
as I live. 

3 The snares of death compassed me round 
about : andthepains of hell gat hold upon me. 

4 I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call upon the 
Name of the Lord : Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous : yea, our God is merciful. 

Psalm cxti. —The recovery of Hezekiali may have furnished, it is supposed, the subject of this 
psalm. It is evidently the thanksgiving of a soul humbled by chastisement, and ascribing its 
recovery from overwhelming sorrow to Divine mercy. The language used is that of the deepest 
conviction — of the most earnest recognition of the goodness of God in all His ways. Trouble 
and sorrow had effected the purpose for which they were sent. The Lord had heard the prayers 
which they prompted, and His loving-kindness had poui-ed consolation into the heart. Peace 
followed this correcting but fatherly disciplining of the heart. A moment before it had rejected 
every offer of counsel or sympathy, — now it was meek and submissive as a child. It bowed 
beneath the hand which had both chastened and healed it, and it was filled with a holy anxiety 
to glorify its Benefactor by taking the cup of salvation ; that is, by adopting as the only means 
of good the whole system of God's laws and ordinances as combined with the workings of Hi? 
irrace. St. Paul has alluded to this psalm (2 Cor. iv. 13). 

616 



THE PSALMS. Bay 24. 

6 The Lord preservetli the simple : I was in misery, and he 
helped me. 

7 Turn again then unto thy rest, my soul : for the Lord hath 
rewarded thee. 

8 And why ? thou hast dehvered my soul from death : mine eyes 
from tears, and my feet from falling. 

9 I will walk before the Lord : in the land of the living. 

10 I believed, and therefore will I speak; but I was sore 
troubled ; I said in my haste, All men are Hars. 

11 What reward shall I give unto the Lord : for all the benefits 
that he hath done unto me ? 

12 1 will receive the cup of salvation : and call upon the E'ame of 
the Lord. 

13 1 will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people ■ 
right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 

14 Behold, Lord, how that I am thy servant : I am thy 
servant, and the son of thine handmaid ; thou hast broken my bonds 
in sunder. 

15 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving : and will call 
upon the Name of the Lord. 

16 I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in the sight of all his 
people : in the courts of the Lord's house, even in the midst of thee, 
Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. 



Psal . cxvii. Lciuddte Doiuifiwin. 




PEAISE the Lord, all ye heathen : praise 
him, all ye nations. 

2 For his merciful kindness is ever more 
and more towards us : and the truth of the 
Lord endureth for ever. Praise the Lord. 



■ • ^ I Psalm cxvn. — This psalm is considered as an inti'oduction 

I, . , , , to that which follows. It summons the nations of the earth 

to join in the praises to be rendered to God for His ever- 
increasing- mercy. 

Psalm cxvnL— It is generally supposed that this psalm was composed by David, either on the 
occasion of his inauguration, or on that of some of his great victories. The arrangement of its 
different parts favours the opinion that it was originally sung in chorus, the various changes being 
marked by the change of persons. Our blessed Lord Hunself (Matth. xxi. 42 ; see also Ac°ts iv. 11° 
Ephes. ii. 20, 1 Pet. ii. 4), by quoting the twenty-second verse, has taught us to apply the psalm' 
to His own grand conquests over the world and Satan. David, therefore, is to be regarded as 
speaking typically in his own person of Chiist, and of his victories as prophetic emblems of 
those of the Messiah. The multitudes that preceded Jesus on His last entrance into Jerusalem 
took up the words of this psalm, and hailed Him, in the language of the conquering David, as the 

617 4 K 



Day 24. 



THE PSALMS. 



Psal. cxviii. Confitemini Domino. 

GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for he is 
gracious : because his mercy endureth for 
ever. 

2 Let Israel now confess, that he is 
gracious : and that his mercy endureth for 
ever. 

3 Let the house of Aaron now confess ; 
that his mercy endureth for ever. 

4 Yea, let them now that fear the Lord 
confess : that his mercy endureth for ever. 

5 I called upon the Lord in trouble : and the Lord heard me at 
large. 

6 The Lord is on my side : I will not fear what man doeth unto me. 

7 The Lord taketh my part with them that help me : therefore 
shall I see my desire upon mine enemies. 

8 It is better to trust in the Lord : than to put any confidence 
in man. 

9 It is better to trust in the Lord : than to put any confidence 
in princes. 

1 All nations compassed me round about : but in the JSTame of 
the Lord will I destroy them. 

11 They kept me in on every side, they kept me in, I say, on 
every side : but in the Name of the Lord will I destroy them. 

12 They came about me like bees, and are extinct even as the fire 
among the thorns : for in the Name of the Lord I will destroy them. 

13 Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall : but the Lord 
was my help. 

14 The Lord is my strength, and my song : and is become my 
salvation. 

1 5 The voice of j oy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous : 
the right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass. 

16 The right hand of the Lord hath the pre-eminence : the right 
hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass. 

Deliverer of their race (Matth. xxi. 9). From sucli expressions as " This is the gate of the Lord : 
the righteous shall enter into it," the psalm appears to have been sung in a procession towards 
the Temple ; and, carrying on the spiritual interpretation of the language, Christ is thereby to be 
contemplated as approaching, after His victory over sin and death, the gates of His everlasting 
mansions, angels awaiting Him there to sing His glories through the whole expanse of heaven. 
But, lofty as are the notes of triumph, the voice of supplication mingles with them. Messiah has 
yet to go forth conquering and to conquer. He has entered into His glory, but the nations have 
still to be subdued to the power of His righteous sceptre. 

618 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 24. 



17 1 shall not die, but live : and declare the works of the Lord. 

18 The Lord hath chastened and corrected me : but he hath not 
given me over unto death. 

19 Open me the gates of righteousness : that I may go into them, 
and give thanks unto the Lord. 

20 This is the gate of the Lord : the righteous shall enter into it. 
211 will thank thee, for thou hast heard me : and art become 

my salvation. 

22 The same stone which the builders refused : is become the 
head-stone in the corner. 

23 This is the Lord's doing : and it is marvellous in our eyes. 

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made : we will rejoice 
and be glad in it. 

25 Help me now, Lord : Lord, send us now prosperity. 

26 Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the Lord : we have 
wished you good luck, ye that are of the house of the Lord. 

27 God is the Lord who hath shewed us light : bind the sacrifice 
with cords, yea, even unto the horns of the altar. 

28 Thou art my God, and I will thank thee : thou art my God, 
and I wiU praise thee. 

29 give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious : and his 
mercy endureth for ever. 



EVENING PRAYER. 




Psal. cxix. Beati immaculate 

LESSED are those that are undefiled in 
the way : and walk in the law of the Jjord. 

2 Blessed are they that keep his testi- 
monies : and seek him with their whole 
heart. 

3 Eor they who do no wickedness : walk 
in his ways. 

4 Thou hast charged : that we shall 
diligently keep thy commandments. 

5 that my ways were made so direct : 
that I might keep thy statutes ! 

6 So shall I not be confounded : while I 
have respect unto all thy commandments. 



Day 24. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart : when I shall have 
learned the judgements of thy righteousness. 

8 I will keep thy ceremonies : forsake me not utterly. 

In quo corriget ? 

HEEEWITHAL shall a young man 
cleanse his way : even by ruling himself 
after thy word. 

1 With my whole heart have I sought 
thee : let me not go wrong out of thy 
commandments. 

11 Thy words have I hid within my 
heart : that I should not sin against thee. 

12 Blessed art thou, Lord : O teach me thy statutes. 

13 With my lips have I been telling : of all the judgements of 
thy mouth. 

14 1 have had as great delight in the way of thy testimonies : as 
in all manner of riches. 

15 1 will talk of thy commandments : and have respect unto thy 
ways. 

16 My dehght shall be in thy statutes : and I will not forget thy 
word. 

Psalm cxix. — So many precepts of holiness, blended with devotional thoughts, are contained in 
this noble psalm, that it has often been called an epitome of the whole psalter, and as such has 
been regarded with singular reverence by those who best know the value of the more experimental 
portions of the Divine word. In the original each division is marked by a letter of the Hebrew 
alphabet, and every verse in tliat division begins with the initial letter at the head of the section. 
This arrangement is supposed to have been adopted for the sake of assisting the memory ; but it 
was also otherwise coiiformable to tlie character of Hebrew poetry. The commencement, like that 
of the first psalm, sets forth the fundamental and ruling principle of all religion, of all law, and all 
happiness, — obedience, that is, to the will of God. And this obedience is to have its beginning 
in the heart ; it is to be nurtured by prayer,— to be enlivened by thanksgiving,— and strengthened 
by holy resolutions. 

" Wherewithal shall,'' &c. — There is something very delightful in the Psalmist's recurrence to 
remembered piety and obedience. Certain as the holiest servant of the Almighty is, that there 
is no good in him but that which he has received from the free grace of God, no sentiment is 
sweeter to the soul than the hope that that grace has not been bestowed in vain. " With my whole 
heart have I sought thee," joined to the prayer for further help, expresses the true feeling of a 
mind deeply convinced of the value of Divine peace; 

" do loell," &c. — The mercies of God, considered as means of present enjoyment, are not 
undervalued even by the world ; and there is no blessing asked of Him with so much sincerity of 
prayer as the continuance of life. But, alas ! — how few, like the Psalmist, connect the desire of a 
lengthened career on earth with that of glorifying God ! To the spiritual mind, the world is as a 
sti-ango' land, presenting vast tracts of desert, and abounding with enemies. The wondrous things 
of the Law are' the only consolation of the soul during its sojourn in this hostile country. By them 
it is l3oth guided and comforted. 

"ilf?/ soul cleaveth," &c. — The life-giving power of God's grace is known by the believer in his 
saddest state of trial. His soul, cleaving unto the dust, still rejoices in the promise that the Spirit 

620 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 24. 



Retrihue servo tuo. 




130 well unto thy servant : that I may 
live, and keep thy word. 

18 Open thou mine eyes : that I may 
see the wondrous things of thy law. 

19 1 am. a stranger upon earth : hide 
not thy commandments from me. 

20 My soul breaketh out for the very 
fervent desire : that it hath alway unto thy 
judgements. 

21 Thou hast rebuked the proud : and cursed are they that do err 
from thy commandments. 

22 turn from me shame and rebuke : for T have kept thy tes- 
timonies. 

23 Princes also did sit and speak against me : but thy servant is 
occupied in thy statutes. 

24 For thy testimonies are my delight : and my counsellors. 

Adlisesit ixtvimento. 

Y soul cleaveth to the dust : O quicken 
thou me, according to thy word. 

26 I have acknowledged my ways, and 
thou heardest rae : teach me thy statutes. 

27 Make me to understand the way of 
thy commandments : and so shall I talk of 
thy wondrous works. 

28 My soul melteth away for very 
heaviness : comfort thou me according unto thy word. 

29 Take from me the way of lying : and cause thou me to make 
much of thy law. 

30 I have chosen the way of truth : and thy judgements have I 
laid before me. 

311 have stuck unto thy testimonies : Lord, confound me not. 
32 I will run the way of thy commandments : when thou hast 
set my heart at liberty. 

of Life stall quicken it. " Take from me tlie way of lying " is its earnest prayer ; for truth is tlie 
essence of everything that is holy, and of everything that is lovely. The way of lying is the 
pathway marked out by the father of evil, — sin, in all its varieties, being but some modification of 
falsehood. Eiches have a false value — honour a false form — sensuality a false mirth ; but the law 
of God shows things in then- proper relations, and as they exist in themselves ; and the heart set at 
liberty by the Spirit of grace turns from the pursuit of the imperfect to that of the perfect good, or 
from obedience to the law of death to the ennobling freedom of sanctifying love. 

621 




THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 





Legem pone. 
EACH me, Lord, the way of tliy 
statutes : and I shall keep it unto the end. 

34 Give me understanding, and I shall 
keep thy law : yea, I shall keep it with my 
whole heart. 

35 Make me to go in the path of thy 
commandments : for therein is my desire. 

3 6 TncHne my heart unto thy testimonies : and not to covetousness. 

37 turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity : and quicken 
thou me in thy way. 

38 stabhsh thy word in thy servant : that I may fear thee. 

39 Take away the rebuke that I am afraid of : for thy judge- 
ments are good. 

40 Behold, my delight is in thy commandments : quicken me 
in thy righteousness. 

" Teach me," &c. — This is so earnest a prayer for Divine grace that the believer may adopt its 
language in every stage of his progress. The more he knows of Divine mysteries, the more anxious 
will he be for the light of the heavenly Spirit, and for its continual influence on his heart. With- 
out an understanding given him from above, he could not have seen the excellency of the law ; 
without grace bestowed from the same source, he feels that he could not obey it. As the mind 
grows in wisdom, so ought the affections to become purer and more elevated. The desire to per- 
fect this sublime object of true religion gives fervour to tlie prayer of faith ; the fear of missing 
it inspires a corresponding humility. 

622 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 25. 



Et veniat suj)er me. 

ET thy loving mercy come also unto me, 
Lord : even thy salvation, according unto 
thy word. 

42 So shall I make answer unto my 
blasphemers : for my trust is in thy word. 

43 take not the word of thy truth 
utterly out of my mouth : for my hope is in 
thy judgements. 

44 So shall I alway keep thy law : yea, for ever and ever. 

45 And I will walk at liberty : for I seek thy commandments. 

46 I will speak of thy testimonies also, even before kings : and 
will not be ashamed. 

47 And m.y delight shall be in thy commandments : which I have 
loved. 

48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which 
I have loved : and my study shall be in thy statutes. 

Memor esto servi tui. 

THINK upon thy servant, as concerning 
thy word : wherein thou hast caused me to 
put my trust. 

50 The same is my comfort in my trou- 
ble : for thy word hath quickened me. 

51 The proud have had me exceedingly 
in derision : yet have I not shrinked from 
thy law. 

52 For I remembered thine everlasting 
judgements, Lord : and received comfort. 

53 I am horribly afraid : for the ungodly that forsake thy law. 

''Let thy loving," <fco.— The best source of confidence that any being can enjoy is the mercy of 
its Creator. " If God be for us, who can be against us ?" is a question wliich the common reason 
of mankind immediately answers. But to bring the favour of God upon the path or current of our 
lives is that for which worldly understandings strive in vain. Divine mercy acts on the atFairs, as 
well as on the souls, of men, through the medium of dispensations accepted, venerated, and 
obeyed. Thus operating, it bestows strength for the greatest trials ; and the powers of the world 
hear with awe the testimonies of God's servants to the truth of His promises and His judgments 

" think upon," &c. — One of the noblest privileges of the child of God is spoken of in this 
psalm. Oppressed by the injustice of the world, the heart rejoices in the knowledge that it may 
appeal to God ; and that, while it is scorned by the proud and licentious multitude, it isj'ustified 
by the wisdom, and guided by the Spirit, of the Most High. 

623 





Bay 25. 



THE PSALMS. 



54 Thy statutes have been my songs : in the house of my 
pilgrimage. 

55 1 have thought upon thy Name, Lord, in the night-season : 
and have kept thy law. 

56 This I had : because I kept thy commandments. 




Portio mea, Domine. 

HOU art my portion, Lord : I have 
promised to keep thy law. 

58 I made my humble petition in thy 
presence with my whole heart : be 
merciful unto me, according to thy word. 

59 I called mine own ways to remem- 
brance : and turned my feet unto thy tes- 
timonies. 

60 I made haste, and prolonged not the 
time : to keep thy commandments. 

61 The congregations of the ungodly have robbed me : but I 
have not forgotten thy law. 

62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee : because of 
thy righteous judgements. 

63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee : and keep thy 
commandments . 

64 The earth, Lord, is full of thy mercy : teach me thy 
statutes. 

Bonitatem fecisti. 

LOED, thou hast dealt graciously with thy 
servant : according unto thy word. 

66 learn me true understanding and 
knowledge : for I have beheved thy com- 
mandments. 

67 Before I was troubled, I went wrong : 
but now have I kept thy word. 

68 Thou art good and gracious : O 
teach me thy statutes. 

" Thou art my,'' &c. — The goodness of God is so perfect, that with Him for our portion we cannot 
fail of happiness. But a proper sense of our unworthiness will teach us that it is only with the 
most earnest humility that we ought to look for mercy. Faith, cherished by prayer and confession, 
brings the soul into that state in which it is susceptible to all the movements of Divine grace. 
Thence it derives consolation, and thence its permanent trust in the fulfilment of the designs of 
mercy. 

624 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 25. 



69 The proud have imagined a lie against me : but I will keep 
thy commandments with my whole heart. 

TO Their heart is as fat as brawn : but my delight hath been in 
thy law. 

71 It is good for me that I have been in trouble : that I may 
learn thy statutes. 

72 The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me : than thousands of 
gold and silver. 



EVENING PKAYEE. 

Manns turn fecerunt me. 

HT hands have made me and fashioned 
me : O give me understanding, that I may 
learn thy commandments. 

74 They that fear thee will be glad 
when they see me : because I have put 
my trust in thy word. 

75 I know, Lord, that thy judgements 
are right : and that thou of very faithful- 
ness hast caused me to be troubled. 

76 let thy merciful kindness be my 
comfort : according to thy word unto thy 
servant. 

77 let thy loving mercies come unto 
me, that I may live : for thy law is my 
delight. 

78 Let the proud be confounded, for they go wickedly about to 
destroy me : but I will be occupied in thy commandments. 

" Lord, tliou,'" &o. — Affliction is a teacher of wisdom. It explains to us the real nature of our 
condition here, and, convincing us of our helplessness, first sends us to God for aid, and then teaches 
us to acknowledge the source whence our comforts and consolations have arisen. " Before I was 
troubled I went wrong," is the language of many a saint in heaven. Blessed are they whose natural 
sorrow has been converted into " the godly sorrow, which worketh repentance unto salvation." 

" Thy hands," &c. — The knowledge that God is the author of our being, atiords the trembling- 
heart a powerful motive for trusting in His mercy. If the wise and benevolent Autlior of the 
Universe gave us the nature which inclines us to desire life, and its varied gratifications, we have 
reason to hope that whatever wish is truly consistent with this disposition of our being will be 
fulfilled. But we have wandered so far from the real path of nature, as well as grace, that we 
can scarcely claim the fulfilment of any part of the original covenant with man. All we can do 
is to pray that God would effect that for ^us by His mercy which we most earnestly desire, but 
which we can only ho^De for thi-ongh grace. 

625 4 L 



I 




Bay 25. 



THE PSALMS. 



79 Let such as fear thee, and have known thy testimonies : be 
turned unto me. 

80 let my heart be sound in thy statutes : that I be not 
ashamed. 

Befecit anima mea. 

Y soul hath longed for thy salvation : and 
I have a good hope because of thy word. 

82 Mine eyes long sore for thy word : 
saying, when wilt thou comfort me ? 

83 For I am become like a bottle in the 
smoke : yet do I not forget thy statutes. 

84 LIow many are the days of thy ser- 
vant : when wilt thou be avenged of them 
that persecute me ? 

85 The proud have digged pits for me : which are not after thy 
law. 

86 All thy commandments are true : they persecute me falsely ; 
be thou my help. 

87 They had almost made an end of me upon earth : but I for- 
sook not thy commandments. 

88 quicken me after thy loving-kindness : and so shall I keep 
the testimonies of thy mouth. 

In seternum, Bomine. 

LOED, thy word : endureth for ever in 
heaven. 

90 Thy truth also remaineth from one 
generation to another : thou hast laid the 
foundation of the earth, and it abideth. 

91 They continue this day according to 
thine ordinance : for all things serve thee. 

92 If my delight had not been in thy 
law : I should have perished in my trouble. 

93. I will never forget thy commandments : for with them thou 
hast quickened me. 

" My soul liath,'' &e. — It is a blessed proof that the soul hath hubibed a new principle of life, 
when it begins to hunger and thirst after righteousness. The desire of salvation is happily an- 
swered by the promises of the Gospel, and the quickening graces of the Holy Spirit, These enable 
the soul to resist all the temptations of Satan, and to endure patiently the injuries of the world, 

626 





THE PSALMS. 



Bay 25. 



94 I am thine, save me : for I have sought thy command- 
ments. 

95 The ungodly laid wait for me to destroy me : but I will 
consider thy testimonies. 

96 I see that all things come to an end : but thy commandment 
is exceeding broad. 



Quomodo dilexi I 

OED, what love have I unto thy law : all 
the da}^ long is my study in it. 

98 Thou through thy commandments 
hast made me wiser than mine enemies : 
for they are ever with me. 

99 1 have more understanding than my 
teachers : for thy testimonies are my study. 

100 I am wiser than the aged : because 
I keep thy commandments. 

101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way : that I may 
keep thy word. 

102 I have not shrunk from thy judgements : for thou teachest 
me. 

103 how sweet are thy words unto my throat : yea, sweeter 
than honey unto my mouth. 

104 Through thy commandments I get understanding : there- 
fore I hate all evil ways. 




" Lord, tMj," &e.—The steadfast perfection of God's word, compared with the ever-changing 
temper of the world, is a theme fuU of comfort to the spiritual mind. However agitated, by pre- 
sent afflictions, it escapes from the storm into the deep tranquillity of holy meditation. God has 
assured his people that they shaU finally triumph over every enemy, and on His word they rest in 
unfading peace. Nothing can speak plainer on the advantages of rehgious meditation than this 
psalm.^ " If my delight had not been in thy law, I should have perished in my trouble." As the 
world IS generally the source of our distresses, it is surely not wise to suppose that it will be ready 
to afford us relief in the season of sorrow or anxiety. However promising its appearance in the 
day of prosperity, or however willing it may prove itself to sympathize with the brief distress 
which IS likely to leave us as it found us, it knows of no remedy for the deeper afflictions of the 
soul, and has little or no sympathy, with misfortunes tliat waste and humble till the pride of the 
human heart is altogether fled. As this is the case, how happy are they who, when troubles 
come, need not turn to the world for succour, but, looking to theii- God, can find in the promises 
ot His word an unfailing fountain of consolations. 

''Lord, what love,'' (fee— An experimental acquaintance with the Divine law presents it to the 
mind as an inexhaustible source of delight and wisdom. A mind well instructed in the word of 
God is superior both in light and strength to the most accomphshed intellects that want this 
sanctifying culture. But it is not a knowledge even of Divine things that will thus elevate the 
soul, unless brought forth in practice. The Psalmist speaks of that love of truth which actuates 
tlie whole being, leaving neither the reason nor the afl"ections unoccupied by its influence. 



THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY. 

MOENING PRAYER. 





Lucerna ^edihus 7neis. 

HY word is a lantern unto my feet : and 

a light unto my paths. 
# 106 I have sworn, and am stedfastly 

a' purposed : to keep thy righteous judge- 

'fe ments. 

107 I am troubled above measure : 

quicken me, Lord, according to thy 

word, 

108 Let the free-will offerings of my mouth please thee, Lord : 
and teach me thy judgements. 

109 My soul is alway in my hand : yet do I not forget thy law. 

110 The ungodly have laid a snare for me : but yet I swerved 
not from thy commandments. 

111 Thy testimonies have I claimed as mine heritage for ever : 
and why ? they are the very joy of my heart. 

112 I have applied my heart to fulfil thy statutes alway : even 
unto the end. 



" Thy word is,'' (fee— The clouds wliicli eitlier our own infirmities or the powers of the world 
raise to obscure our prospects, speedily give way before the penetrating rays of God's Word. Let 
enemies beset us with snares, tlie liglit of heavenly wisdom is sufficient to direct our steps ;— let 
trouble perplex us with a thousand doubts and anxieties, the same blessed beacon will guide us 
to the haven of our rest. 

628 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 26. 



Iniquos oclio hcibui. 




HATE them that imagine evil things : 
but thj law do I love. 

114 Thou art my defence and shield : 
and my trust is in thy word. 

115 Away from me, ye wicked : I wiU 
keep the commandments of my Grod. 

116 stabhsh me according to thy 
word, that I may live : and let me not be 
disappointed of my hope. 

117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe : yea, my delight 
shall be ever in thy statutes. 

118 Thou hast trodden down all them that depart from thy- 
statutes : for they imagine but deceit. 

119 Thou puttest away all the ungodly of the earth hke dross ; 
therefore I love thy testimonies. 

120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee : and I am afraid of thy 
judgements. 

Feci judicium. 



DEAL with the thing that is lawful and 
right : give me not over unto mine 
oppressors. 

122 Make thou thy servant to delight 
in that which is good : that the proud do 
me no wrong. 

123 Mine eyes are wasted away with 
looking for thy health : and for the word 
of thy righteousness. 

124 deal with thy servant according unto thy loving mercy : 
and teach me thy statutes. 




" I hate tliem '' &c. — A deep and vital conviction of the goodness of God cannot fail to render 
tlie heart anxious respecting the promotion of His glory. The enemies of His law will be con- 
sidered as hostile to whatever is worthy of the highest regard ; and in the terror with which the 
mind contemplates the state and character of these enemies of God it will find a solemn lesson, 
the most affecting, perhaps, that it can receive, warning it against every sin that might tend to 
bring it into the same condition. 

" I deal with," &c. — Perseverance in holiness under trials and discouragements is a grand and 
convincing proof of the power of faith. When the eye is wasted with looking for health, and still 
the soul remains faithful to its vows, the truth of God's promises is glorified in t]ie noblest manner. 
He has assured the believer of the sufQciency of His gi-ace, and of the purposes of His love, to 
bring to glory those whom He hath justified. This is enough for a firm and spiritual faith. It 
perseveres even under the privation of spuitual comforts. 

629 



Bay 26. 



THE PSALMS. 



125 I am thy serva,nt, grant me understanding : that I may 
know thy testimonies. 

126 It is time for thee, Lord, to lay to thine hand : for they 
have destroyed thy law. 

127 For I love thy commandments : ^ibove gold and precious 
stone. 

128 Therefore hold I straight all thy commandments : and all 
false ways I utterly abhor. 



Mirabilia. 




therefore 



HY testimonies are wonderful 
doth my soul keep them. 

130 When thy word goeth forth : it 
giveth light and understanding unto the 
simple. 

131 I opened my mouth, and drew in 
my breath : for my dehght was in thy 
commandments. 

132 look thou upon me, and be mer- 
ciful unto me : as thou usest to do unto those that love thy ISTame. 

133 Order my steps in thy word : and so shall no wickedness 
have dominion over me. 

134 O deliver me from the wrongful dealings of men : and so 
shall I keep thy commandments. 

135 Shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant : and 
teach me thy statutes. 

136 Mine eyes gush out with water : because men keep not 
thy law. 

Justus es, Domine. 

IGHTEOUS art thou, Lord : and true 
is thy judgement. 

138 The testimonies that thou hast com- 
manded : are exceeding righteous and true. 

139 My zeal hath even consumed me : 
because mine enemies have forgotten thy 
words. 

140 Thy word is tried to the uttermost : 
and thy servant loveth it. 

141 I am small, and of no reputation : yet do I not forget thy 
comm andments . 
630 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 26. 



142 Thy righteousness is an everlasLing righteousness : and thy 
law is the truth. 

143 Trouble and heaviness haA^e taken hold upon me : yet is 
my delight in thy commandments. 

144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting : grant 
me understanding, and I shall live. 



EVENING PEAYEE. 




Clamavi in toto corde meo. 

CALL with my whole heart : hear me, 
Lord, I will keep thy statutes. 

146 Yea, even unto thee do I call : help 
me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. 

147 Early in the morning do I cry unto 
thee : for in thy word is my trust. 

148 Mine eyes prevent the night-watches : 
that I might be occupied in th}' words. 

149 Hear my voice, Lord, according 
unto thy loving-kindness : quicken me, ac- 
cording as thou art wont. 

150 They draw nigh that of malice per- 
secute me : and are far from thy law. 

151 Be thou nigh at hand, Lord : 
for all thy commandments are true. 

152 As concerning thy testimonies, I have known long since : 
that thou hast grounded them for ever. 

" TJiy testimonies,'' dr. — Tlie beauty of holiness, the surpassing excellency of G-od's law, is 
powerfully set forth in the sentiments here exiDressed. It is the privilege of sanctified mindB to be 
able to perceive its glory ; and the emanations of its light, strengthening their faculties, and 
tlrrowing a radiance on the whole system of things around them, become to them a fountain of 
satisfaction, valuable above all the treasures of the earth, 

" Eigliteous,'' d'c. — The righteousness and purity of the Divine testimonies inspire the heart with 
a wisdom altogether new. Led by them to contemplate the decrees and works of God as perfectly 
good, it consents with a wiUing obedience to whatever it may be called upon to endure. The 
promotion of holiness is its first grand care. To fm-ther this, it readily encounters every danger, 
and sacrifices every selfish wish. " jly zeal hath consimied me " (Psalm Isis. 9, John ii. 17) was 
the expression of G-od's faithful servant David. It was, in a far higher sense, applicable to Christ ; 
and in Him, and by His Sphit, it is the symbol of His people in all ages and countries. 

" I call icith,'' &c. — Affliction prompts the heart to seek for help ; but, anxious as it may render 
us to attain the necessary aid, it can prompt no consolatory prayer, — no feeling of hope or trust, 
— unless the love of God have previously wrought upon our souls. Then, as in this psalm, the 
STipplications which we pour forth will have a tone of gratitude and filial affection. The loving- 
kindness of the Lord will be appealed to and the voice of praise, and the prayer founded on the 
studv of the heavenlv oracles, will anticipate the dawn of dav. 

631 



Daij 26. 



THE PSALMS. 



Vide liumilitatewv. 

CONSIDEE mine adversity, and deliver 
me : for I do not forget thy law. 

154 Avenge thou my cause, and deliver 
me : quicken me, according to thy word. 

155 Health is far from the ungodly : 
for they regard not thy statutes. 

156 Great is thy mercy, Lord : 
quicken me, as thou art wont. 

157 Many there are that trouble me, 
and persecute me : yet do I not swerve from thy testimonies. 

158 It grieveth me when I see the transgressors : because they 
keep not thy law. 

159 Consider, Lord, how I love thy commandments : 
quicken me, according to thy loving-kindness. 

160 Thy word is true from everlasting : all the judgements of 
thy righteousness endure for evermore. 

Frinci])es persecuti sunt, 

EINCES have persecuted me without a 
cause : but my heart standeth in awe of 
thy word. 

162 I am as glad of thy word : as one 
that findeth great spoils. 

163 As for lies, I hate and abhor them : 
but thy law do I love. 

164 Seven times a day do I praise thee : 
because of thy righteous judgements. 

165 Great is the peace that they have who love thy law : and 
they are not offended at it. 

" consider,'' &c. — The sorrows of the righteous are transient. Deeply as they may penetrate 
the soul, it is known that they will liave an end ; and that the gloom of the present will be suc- 
ceeded by an endless futurity of gloiy. The ungodly, on the contrary, cut asunder the very roots 
of life and happiness. Their momentary prosperity but adds a greater gloom to tlieir approach- 
ing destruction; and, in the contrast which their lot thus presents to the reflecting mind, it sees 
one of, the most powerful of argiunents for continued obedience to the Divine law. 

"F/inces have," &c. — That which was true of David, when persecuted by Saul and his other 
enemies, was true also, in a more extensive and pamful manner, of the Kedeemer. A worldly 
man, if exposed to any trouble on account of religion, speedily satisfies his conscience that perse- 
verance in such a coiu-se is not necessary. Piety, weak and ungrounded in spiritual dispositions, 
yields with almost equal facility. But the true child of God, however persecuted, however op- 
pressed with grief on account of his holy devotion to the law of his heavenly Father, still urges 
forward, and makes the dangers witli which he is encompassed a reason for more enraest prayer. 

632 






THE PSALMS. Bay 26. 

166 Lord, I have looked for thy saving health : and done after 
tlij^ commandments. 

167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies : and loved them ex- 
ceedingly. 

168 I have kept thy commandments and testimonies : for all 
my ways are before thee. 

Ajo^ropinquei depreeatio. 

ET my complaint come before thee, O 
Lord : give me understanding, according 
to thy word. 

170 Let my supplication come before 
thee : deliver me, according to thy word. 

171 My lips shall speak of thy praise : 
when thou hast taught me thy statutes. 

172 Yea, my tongue shall sing of thy 
word : for all thy commandments are righteous. 

173 Let thine hand help me : for I have chosen thy command- 
ments. 

174 I have longed for thy saving health, O Lord : and in thy 
law is my delight. 

175 O let my soul live, and it shall praise thee : and thy judge- 
ments shall help me. 

176 I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost : O seek thy 
servant, for I do not forget thy commandments, 

" Let my complaint,'' &c.—K sentiment of deep humility pervades tlie whole of this Divine psalm. 
Mercy is sought for, and not a reward claimed. A believer in justification by human merits, 
could use scarcely a single expression in the psalm without many modifications. Confidence 
in human wisdom, or in any means of improvement but those offered by 'the Holy Spirit, would 
equally prevent the fair adoption of its language. The goodness of God, working freely in the 
fulness of compassion,— the corruption of the human heart needing a vital regeneration,— the 
wickedness of the world, despising the means of grace, and the sorrows of God's people, looking 
for deliverance through the progress of the Almighty's inscrutable designs,— these are the sub- 
jects of the Psalmist's contemplation ; and he will have advanced far both in wisdom and holiness 
whose mind can occupy itself in similar meditations, mingling tliought with prayer, and both 
prayer and thought with the sighs and tears of a contrite spirit. It is said that this psalm was 
regarded by the ancients with so much reverence that they committed it to memory, rejoicing in 
the possession of so admirable a formulary for the exercises of self-examination, and a pure, 
devotional faith. " The Book of Psalms," said the great leader of the Eeformation, " is an epitome 
of the Bible, and the 119th psalm is an epitome of all the rest." Scripture, in every part, is a 
condensation of a vast series of truths ; and it is one of the characteristics of a rightly-ordered 
Christian mind that it delights, above all things, in unfolding the great moral and spiritual 
mysteries which lie wrapped up in the succinct language of inspiration. The 119th psalm, taken 
up by a mind like this, presents an infinite variety of subjects out of which may be drawn the 
noblest lessons of practice ; and, illustrated by the Gospel, an outline of doctrines the most 
necessary to the comforting and the strengthening of tlie soul. 

633 4 M 



THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. 

MORNING PRAYER. 





I 



Psal. cxx. j-icl Bomimim. 

HEN I was in trouble I called upon the 
Lord : and he heard me. 

2 Deliver my soul, Lord, from lying 
lips : and from a deceitful tongue. 

3 "What reward shall be given or done 
unto thee/thou false tongue : even mighty 
and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals. 

4 Wo is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech : and 
to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar. 

5 My soul hath long dwelt among them : that are enemies unto 
peace. 

6 I labour for peace, but when I speak unto them thereof : they 
make them ready to bptttle. 



Psalm cxx.— It is the comfort of tlie righteous to know that the Lord will not fail to deliver 
him at last, whatever be the power or number of his enemies. The greatest of tlie ti'oubles with 
which the child of God has to contend, arises from his being surrounded by those who hate the 
Divine law, and the peace which it would establish. Mesech and Kedar, the one the son of 
Japlietli, and spoken of by Ezekiel xxvii. 13, and the other the son of the wild Islnnael (Gen. xxv. 
13), here personate tlie powers of the world, setting themselves in battle array against the 
believer. This is the fii-st of the fifteen psalms which are called the Songs of Degrees. They 
are supposed to have been sung on the steps before the^ great gate of the Temple. 

634 . 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 27, 



Psal. cxxi. Levavi oculos. 




WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills : 
from whence cometli my help. 

2 My help cometh even from the Lord : 
who hath made heaven and earth. 

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be 
moved : and he that keepeth thee will not 
sleep. 

4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel : shall 
neither slumber nor sleep. 

5 The Lord himself is thy keeper : the Lord is thy defence 
upon thy right hand ; 

6 So that the sun shall not burn thee by day : neither the moon- 
by night. 

7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil : yea, it is even he 
that shall keep thy soul. 

8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in : 
from this time forth for evermore. 



Psal, cxxii. L^etatus sum. 



WAS glad when they said unto me : We 
will go into the house of the Lord. 

2 Our feet shall stand in thy gates : 
Jerusalem. 

3 Jerusalem is built as a city that is 
at unity in itself. 

4 For thither the tribes go up, even the 
tribes of the Lord : to testify unto Israel, 
to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord. 

5 For there is the seat of judgement : even the seat of the 




liouse of David. 



Psalm cxxi. — God on His everlasting throne receives the prayers of His people, and thence 
ponrs down upon them the abundance of His blessing. The experience of countless generations 
of His worshippers has proved the readiness with which He hears and answers prayer. God sent 
help from Sion, when worshipped thei-e by His faithfnl people : — how much more will He bestow 
grace on those who offer up their prayers, through Christ, before the throne of Heaven ! This 
psalm was probably sung in choi-us by the worshippers and the priests. 

Psalm cxxn. — It is supposed from the nature of this psalm that it was sung by companies 
of people going up to Jerasalem at tlie periods appointed for the great public festivals. It is 
beautifully expressive of the delight which the nation took in the service of G(jd— of the reve- 
rence which it felt for His sanctuary— and the fervent desire which it had, that the city so blessed 
and sanctified miglit ever flourish as tlie palace of the Great King. 

635 



Day 27. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 O pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper that 
love thee. 

7 Peace be within thy walls : and plenteousness within thy 
palaces. 

8 For my brethren and companions' sakes : I will wish thee 
prosperity. 

9 Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God : I will seek 



to do thee srood. 



Psal. cxxiii. Ad te levavi oculos meos. 



iifiiiii ^ (iiiiii: NTO thee lift I up mine eyes : thou 
that dwellest in the heavens. 
£ 2 Behold, even as the eyes of servants 

look unto the hand of their masters, and 
as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of 
her mistress : even so our eyes wait upon 
the Lord our God, until he have mercy 
upon us. 

3 Have mercy upon us, Lord, have 
mercy upon us : for we are utterly despised. 

4 Our soul is filled with the scornful reproof of the wealthy : 
and with the despitefulness of the proud. 




Psal. cxxiv. Nisi quia Bominus. 




F the Lord himself had not been on our 
side, now may Israel say : if the Lord 
himself had not been on our side, when 
men rose up against us ; 

2 They had swallowed us up quick : 
when they were so wrathfuUy displeased 
at us. 

3 Yea, the waters had drowned us : 



and the stream had gone over our soul. 
4 The deep waters of the proud : had gone even over our soul. 

Psalm cxxm. — This short psalm was evidently written in a period of great distress, probably 
dm-ing the Captivity. 

Psalm CXXIV. — As the j^receding psalm was composed in a season of trouble, so this was 
written in commemoration of deliverance. The hour of prosperity, as well as that of adversity, 
is reflected in the clear mirror of these divine compositions. " If any be merry among you, let 
him sing psalms." How strange that cheerfulness should so rarely be expressed according to 
the apostolic precept ! 

636 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 27. 



5 But praised be the Lord : who hath not given us over for a 
prey unto their teeth. 

6 Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the 
fowler : the snare is broken, and we are delivered. 

7 Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord who hath made 
heaven and earth. 

Psal. cxxv. Qui confidunt. 

HEY that put their trust in the Lord shall 
be even as the mount Sioii : which may 
not be removed, but standeth fast for ever. 

2 The hills stand upon Jerusalem : even 
so standeth the Lord round about his people, 
from this time forth for evermore. 

3 For the rod of the ungodly cometh not 
into the lot of the righteous : lest the right- 
eous put their hand unto wickedness. 

4 Do well, Lord : unto those that are good and true of heart, 

5 As for such as turn back unto their, own wickedness : the 
Lord shall lead them forth with the evil-doers ; but peace shall be 
upon Israel. 

EVENING PEAYEK. 

Psal. cxxvi. In convertendo. 

HEN the Lord turned again the captivity 
of Sion : then were we like unto them 
that dream. 

2 Then was our mouth filled with 
laughter : and our tongue with joy. 

3 Then said they among the heathen : 
The Lord hath done great things for them. 

4 Yea, the Lord hath done great things 
for us already : whereof we rejoice. 

5 Turn our captivity, O Lord : as the 
rivers in the south. 

6 They that sow in tears : shall reap 
in joy. 

Psalm cxxv. — This psalm is supposed to refer to the final establishment of God's people under 
the reign of Messiah. By the rod of the ungodly is meant their power, or sceptre ; and it is here 
stated, according to the comforting faith of the just in all ages, that the rigliteous shall not, for 
any length of time, be exposed to their oppressions. 

637 






Day 27. 



THE PSALMS. 



7 He that now goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth 
good seed : shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring his 
sheaves with him. 

Psal. cxxvii. Nisi Bominus. 

XCEPT the Lord build the house : their 
labour is but lost that build it. 

2 Except the Lord keep the city : the 
watchman waketh but in vain. 

3 It is but lost labour that ye haste to 
rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat 
the bread of carefulness : for so he giveth 
his beloved sleep. 

4 Lo, children and the fruit of the 
womb : are an heritage and gift that cometli of the Lord. 

5 Like as the arrows in the hand of the giant : even so are the 
young children. 

6 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them : they shall 
not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. 

Psal. cxxviii. Beati omnes. 

LESSED are all they that fear the Lord : 
and walk in his ways. 

2 For thou shalt eat the labours of thine 
hands : well is thee, and happy shalt 
thou be. 

3 Thy wife shall be as the fruitful 
vine : upon the walls of thine house. 

4 Thy children like the olive-branches : 
round about thy table. 

5 Lo, thus shall the man be blessed : that feareth the Lord. 

Psalm cxxvi. — This is supposed to have been one of the psahns sung by the Jews on their 
return from Babylon. It strikingly describes tlie feelings of a people jast escaped from bondage, 
and finding in their present happiness an assurance of God's constant favour and protection. As 
tlie rivers in the south flowed with streams replenished by copious rains, so did the returning 
captives look to see their bands continually increasing. 

Psalm cxxvii. — Solomon is said to have been tlie autlior of this psalm. The sentiments which 
it expresses will be gladly repeated by tlie thankful heart. Security and happiness of every kind 
are the gift of God. Wliatever we etfect for ourselves is but a shadow, — a form to mock us for an 
instant, and then leave us desolate. The gifts of God are realities ; and His people are enriched 
by His blessings without having to endure any of that heart-breaking care which unpityingly 
denies to the worldly and the ambitious the enjoyment of repose. 

• 638 





THE PSALMS. 



Bay 27. 



6 The Lord from out of Sion shall so bless thee : that thou shalt 
see Jerusalem in prosperity all thy life long. 

7 Yea, that thou shalt see thy children's children : and peace 
upon Israel. 

Psal. cxxix. Ssepe ex])ugnaverunt. 

ANY a time have they fought against me 
from my youth up : may Israel now say. 

2 Yea, many a time have they vexed 
me from my youth up : but they have 
not prevailed against me. 

3 The plowers plowed upon my back : 
and made long furrows. 

4 But the righteous Lord : hath hewn 
the snares of the ungodly in pieces. 

5 Let them be confounded and turned backward : as many as 
have evil will at Sion. 

6 Let them be even as the grass growing upon the house-tops : 
which withereth afore it be plucked up ; 

7 Whereof the mower filleth not his hand : neither he that 
bindeth up the sheaves his bosom. 

8 So that they who go by say not so much as, The Lord prosper 
you : we wish you good luck in the Name of the Lord. 

Psal. cxxx. Be profundis. 

UT of the deep have I called unto thee, 
Lord : Lord, hear my voice. 

2 let thine ears consider well : the 
voice of my complaint. 

3 If thou. Lord, wilt be extreme to 
mark what is done amiss : Lord, who 
may abide it ? 

4 For there is mercy with thee : there- 
fore shalt thou be feared. 

PsAOi cxxYiii. — This psalm is said to have been used when the people brought to the Temple 
the tirst-fruits of their harvests. It speaks of blessings still dear to the human heart, and which, 
if it would enjoy them lastingly, it must look for as blessings from out of Sion. 

Psalm cxxix. — It is supposed that this psalm was written shortly after the return from Babylon, 
and probably by Ezra. The bitter hatred with which the unfortunate exiles were treated by the 
surrounding people, will account for the-language employed by the Psalmist. God's mercy and 
man's injustice form a frequent theme with the actors in the great events of old. 

639 





Day 27. 



THE PSALMS. 



5 I look for the Lord ; my soul doth wait for him : in his word 
is my trust. 

6 My soul fleeth unto the Lord : before the morning watch, I 
say, before the morning watch. 

7 Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy : 
and with him is plenteous redemption. 

8 And he shall redeem Israel : from all his sins. 



Psal. cxxxi. Domine, non est. 



OED, I am not high-minded : I have no 
proud looks. 

2 I do not exercise myself in great 
matters : which are too high for me. 

3 But I refrain my soul, and keep it 
low, like as a child that is weaned from 
his mother : yea, my soul is even as a 
weaned child. 

4 Israel, trust in the Lord : from 
this time forth for evermore. 




PsAoi cxxx.— This beautiful and pathetic psalm is supposed to have been composed by David 
in some season of deep affliction, arising from his own sins ; or by one of the captives in Babylon, 
looking for relief through prayer and confession. It is couched in the language which the truly 
penitent heart may ever use to its consolation and relief. 

Psalm cxxxi.—This short psalm is attributed to David, and expresses that humility which may 
be regarded as the natural result of penitence, and the necessary groundwork of faith. The first 
sigu of conversion exhibited by a heart truly awakened to the terrors of sin is self-abasement. In 
its ordinaiy state it sought but for that wliich might flatter its pride, and remove from its thoughts 
whatever could in anywise tend to the lessening of its confidence in the promises of the workL It 
found a dignity in pride ;— a lofty satisfaction in the risings of the spirit towards a superiority not 
yet attainable. Disappointment produced anger and bitterness of feeling : success encom-aged 
the mind to a further striving after power ; and in the perpetual effort, thought, straining itself 
to^ the utmost, missed the rewards of both wisdom and virtue. Tlie converted heart discovers its 
mistake. It sees plainly that ''pride was not made for man;" and that, while aiming at the 
heavens, it is only digging a pit for itself in the depths of affliction. Tlie recollection of sin 
gives a humbling voice to the past; the dread of again falling inspires the future with the same 
lesson ; and the heart now finds as much consolation in the acknowledgment of its weakness— 
of its misery and wants— as it before did in the vaunting of its pretensions, or in the display of 
its most shining powers. " I refrain my soul, and keep it low, like as a child that is weaned 
from his mother : yea, my soul is even as a weaned child." This is the humble and tender ex- 
pression of ayery sanctified heart. Knowledge of God and of itself is the true root of its humi- 
lity ; and it feels profoundly that should it now exercise itself in great matters, it would not be 
in that state in which the discipline of repentance, or the work of faith, could be prosperously 
earned on. Shrinking, therefore, from everything which might tempt it into the encouragement 
of a haughty or confident spirit, it keeps its eye steadfastly fixed on tlie sad proofs of its own 
weakness, and on the wonderful mercy and condescension of God. The honours for which it 
sighs are those of heaven and eternity ; but it knows that none of them can be obtained except 
through the free and most undeserved grace of God. 

640 



THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. 



MORNING PRAYER 




of mine liouse : nor climb up into my bed ; 
4 I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep, nor mine eye-lids to 



slumber : neither the temples of my head to take any rest ; 

5 Until I find out a place for the temple of the Lord : an 
habitation for the mighty Grod of Jacob. 

Psalm cxxxii. — This is supposed to have been composed in commemoration of tlie removal of 
the ark from the Tabernacle into the Temple built by Solomon. (See 2 Sam. vii. 2 Chron. xvii.) 
It is highly interesting when considered in this h'glit, as it brings before us not only the images of 
those lofty figurative circumstances which marked the progress of events in early days, but the 
sentiments which embodied themselves in the faith of those who lived imderthe ancient dispensa- 
tion. The sixth verse is obscm-e, but seems to refer to the district where David had his birth, and 
to which tradition probably pointed as the cradle of that Sovereign Power which should, spiritually, 
be established for ever. It is conjectured tliat the priests and Levites sung this psalm in chorus 
as they carried the ark up the steps of the Temple. 

641 4 ^- 



Day 28. 



THE PSALMS. 



G Lo, we heard of tlie same at Ephrata : and found it in tlie 
wood. 

7 AVe will go into his tabernacle : and fall lo^v on our knees 
before his footstool. 

8 Arise, Lord, into thy resting-place : thou, and the ark of thv 
strencvth. 

9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness ; and let thv 
saints sing with jo^^f nines s. 

10 For thy servant David's sake : turn not away the presence of 
thine Anointed. 

11 The Lord hath made a faithful oath unto David : and he shall 
not shrink from it ; 

12 Of the fruit of th\^ body : shall I set upon thy seat, 

13 If thy children will keep my covenant, and mv testimonies 
that I shall learn them : their children also shall sit upon thy seat 
for evermore. 

14 Eor the Lord hath chosen Sion to be an habitation for him- 
self : he hath longed for her. 

15 This shall be my rest for ever : here will I dwell, for I have 
a delight therein. 

16 1 Avill bless her victuals with increase : and will satisfv her 
poor with bread. 

17 1 will deck her priests with health : and her saints shall 
rejoice and sing. 

18 There shall I make the horn of David to flourish : I have 
ordained a lantern for mine Anointed. 

19 As for his enemies, I shall clothe them with shame : but 
upon himself shall his crown flourish. 

Psal. cxxxiii. Ecce, quam IjGnum ! 

EHOLD, how good and joyful a thino- it 
is : brethren, to dwell together in unity ! 

2 It is like the precious ointment upon 
the head, that ran down unto the beard : 
even unto Aaron's beard, and went down 
to the skirts of his clothing. 

3 Like as the dew of Hermon : which 
fell upon the hill of Sion. 

4 For there the Lord promised his 
ssmg : and lite tor evermore. 

642 




THE PSALMS. 



Bay 28. 



Psal. cxxxiv. Ecce nunc. 

EHOLD now, praise the Lord : all ye 
servants of the Lord ; 

2 Ye that by night stand in the house 
of the Lord : even in the courts of the 
house of our God. 

3 Lift up 3^our hands in the sanctuary : 
and praise the Lord. 

4 The Lord that made heaven and 
earth : give thee blessing out of Sion. 

Psal. cxxxv. Laudate nomen. 




PEAISE the Lord, laud ye the Name of 
the Lord : praise it, ye servants of the 



Lord ; 




2 Ye that stand in the house of the 
Lord : in the courts of the house of our 



3 praise the Lord, for the Lord is 
gracious : sing praises unto his Name, 
for it is lovely. 

4 For why ? the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself : and 
Israel for his own possession. 

5 For I know that the Lord is great : and that our Lord is above 
all gods. 

PsAT.M cxxxm. — This is a beautiful little hymn, and, if applicable under tlie Law, bow much 
more so under the Gospel ! The former allowed much to the hardness of men's hearts ; the latter 
teaches that love is the fulfilling of the Law (Eom. xiii, 10) ; and that he that hateth his brother 
is in darkness, and is a mm-derer (1 John ii. 9, iii. 15) ; the whole combined in the one new com- 
mandment of the Saviour, that we love one another as He loved us (Jdlm xv. 12). Hermon was a 
lofty range of mountains in the neighbourhood of the lake of Galilee, and it is poetically represented 
as shedding its dews on the less fertile hills about Jerusalem. 

PsAoi CXXXIV. — The priests, in their courses, continued the worship of God in the Temple 
witliout intermission. This short psahn is supposed to have been the song of those who, having 
fulfilled tlieir own service, left their brethren, with a mingled blessing and exhortation, to keep the 
solemn watches of the night. The Chm-ch of God never allows the voice of praise to be silent. 
Some of its children are always awake, though the heaviness of sorrow, or the temptations of the 
world, or the natural infirmity of natm'e, may have wrapped the greater number in sleep. But it 
is a happy reflection that, whatever be the state of the Church below, the Church above is ever 
ready to keep the watches of the night as well as of the day, Xo voice grows weary there with 
the hymn of thanksgiving ; and the thoughtful hearts of God's worshippers below, when sensible 
of their own imperfections, rejoice to know that the Almighty Father has those who can serve 
Him so well. They seem to catch new ardour from the wakefuh joys of heaven, and the spmt 
instinctivelv prays that the glory of those saints above may perpetuallv increase. 

'643 





Day 28. 



THE PSALMS. 



6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did lie in heaven, and in 
earth : and in the sea, and in all deep places. 

7 He bringeth forth the clouds from the ends of the world : and 
sendeth forth lightnings with the rain, bringing the winds out of 
his treasures. 

8 He smote the first-born of Egypt : both of man and beast. 

9 He hath sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, 
thou land of Egypt : upon Pharaoh, and all his servants. 

10 He smote divers nations : and slew mighty kings; 

11 Sehon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Basan : and 
all the kingdoms of Canaan ; 

12 And gave tlieir land to be an heritage : even an heritage 
unto Israel his people. 

13 Thy Name, Lord, endureth for ever : so doth thy memorial, 
Lord, from one generation to another. 

14 For the Lord will avenge his people : and be gracious unto 
his servants. 

15 As for the images of the heathen, they are but silver and 
gold : the work of men's hands. 

16 They have mouths, and speak not : eyes have they, but they 
see not. 

17 They have ears, and yet they hear not : neither is there any 
breath in their mouths. 

18 They that make them are like unto them : and so are all they 
that put their trust in them. 

19 Praise the Lord, ye house of Israel : praise the Lord, ye house 
of Aaron. 

20 Praise the Lord, ye house of Levi : ye that fear the Lord, 
praise the Lord. 

21 Praised be the Lord out of Sion : who dwelleth at Jerusalem. 

Psalm cxxxv. — This psalm, like the preceding, is regarded as one of the hymns sung by the 
courses of the priests and Levites. The reasons are m-ged which ought to act most powerfully on 
tlie heart when called to the worship of God. His name is lovely in holiness, majesty, and love. 
He has manifested the perfection of all His attributes in the preservation of His people^ and when 
His nature and His doings are compared with the idols which the world has worshipped, how 
valuable must the grace be considered whereby we have been enabled to know and adore His 
power ! ^ This psalm is reckoned among those used at the Feast of Pentecost. It is capable of 
interesting spiritual applications. The determinations of heavenly wisdom are not to be counter- 
acted by the power of the creature. " Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and 
in the earth ; and in the sea, and in all deep places." The Church of Christ gladly listens to the 
exhortations of the Psalmist. As the time house of Israel, it knows that from its com'ts and people 
praises should be heard sufficient to rouse the world to attention. If Israel be silent, what can be 
expected from the multitudes who have never seen the worth of holiness ? But if only one jDeople 
be entirely devoted to God, we may hopefully look for the conversion of the rest. 

644 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 28. 



EVENING PRAYER 

Psal. cxxxYi. Conjltemini. 

CrIYE thanks unto the Lord, for he is 
gracions : and his mercy endureth for ever. 

2 give thanks unto the God of all 
gods : for his mercy endureth for ever. 

3 thank the Lord of all lords : for his 
mercy endureth for ever. 

4 Who only doeth great wonders : for 
his mercy endureth for ever. 

5 Who by his excellent wisdom made 
the heavens : for his mercy endureth for 
ever. 

6 Who laid out the earth above the 
waters : for his mercy endureth for ever. 

7 Who hath made great lights : for his mercy endureth for ever ; 

8 The sun to rule the day : for his mercy endureth for ever ; 

9 The moon and the stars to govern the night : for his mercy 
endureth for ever. 

10 Who smote Egypt with their first-born : for his mercy 
endureth for ever ; 

11 And brought out Israel from among them : for his mercy 
endureth for ever ; 

12 With a mighty hand, and stretched out arm : for his mercy 
endureth for ever. 

13 Who divided the Eed sea in two parts : for his mercy 
endureth for ever ; 

14 And made Israel to go through the midst of it : for his mercy 
endureth for ever. 

15 But as for Pharaoh and his host, he overthrew them in the 
Ped sea : for his mercy endureth for ever. 

Psalm cxxxti. — This triumphant song of praise is supposed to have been written after the 
Babylonish Captivity, and to have been employed on the same occasions as the preceding. Israel 
commemorated the glory of God as it manifested itself in the overthrow of the heathen nations 
wMch opposed His designs. The enemies presented to the mind of the Christian are sin and 
death in their own distinct and awful forms. Against these had the Captain of his salvation to 
strive. Over these, by the power of love and holiness, He triumphed ; and when the believer 
thinks of this, and of the innumerable instances of the working of Divine grace in the conversion 
of sinners, and in the establishment of the Church, he rejoices to adopt the language of this psalm, 
gi\ing it a loftier meaning than could ever have been attached to it by the devoutest worshipper 
under the Law. 

615 




Daij 28. 



THE PSALMS. 



16 Who led his people through the wilderness : for ]iis mercy 
endureth for ever. 

17 Who smote great kings : for his mercy endureth for ever ; 

18 Yea, and slew mighty kings : for his mercy endureth for ever ; 

19 Sehon king of the Amorites : for his mercy endureth for ever ; 

20 And Og the king of Basan : for his mercy endureth for ever ; 

21 And gave away their land for an heritage : for his mercy 
endureth for ever ; 

22 Even for an heritage unto Israel his servant : for his mercy 
endureth for ever. 

23 Who remembered us when we were in trouble : for his mercy 
endureth for ever ; 

2-1 And hath delivered us from oui^ enemies : for his mercy 
endureth for ever. 

25 Who giveth food to all flesh : for his mercy endureth for ever. 

26 give thanks unto the Grod of heaven : for his mercy en- 
dureth for ever. 

27 give thanks unto the Lord of lords : for his mercy endui'eth 
for ever. 

Psal. cxxxvii. Sujjer Jliiriiina. 



_ , Y the waters of Babylon we sat down and 
.r/^^fP -S^^. ^ wept : when we remembered thee, Sion. 

I ) 2 As for our harps, we hanged them 

^ % up : upon the trees that are therein. 
>^^^~^v^v f ; 3 For they that led us away captive re- 
^^^^^ \ j . i quired of us then a song, and melody, in our 

i ; heaviness : Sing us one of the songs of Sion. 

4 How shall we sines' the Lord's sonsr : 
in a strange land ? 
5 If I forget thee, Jerusalem : let my riglit hand forget her 
cunning. 

Psalm cxxsyii. — It is evident that this melancholy but beautiful psalm was written by one of 
the sorrowing captives in Babylon. The fame of Israels songs had made its way among the 
heathen nations ; but the true beauty of those divine hymns was derived from a source of which 
tlie heathens were utterly ignorant, and, as they were ignorant of the source of their excellency, so 
was it little probable that they could be sensible to the real sweetness of the melody. " How shall 
we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?" Not only was the heart of the singer too famt to 
speak in the language of former days, but the ear was dull of hearing for which tlie song was 
asked. The Euphrates, or the river Chebar (Ezek. iii. 15), may be understood " by the waters of 
Babylon.'" The prophecy against Babylon was fulfilled at the taking of the city by Gyrus, King 
of Persia, and in the events which immediately followed, so that at last nothing remained but its 
walls, in the midst of which the kings of Persia are said to have kept wild beasts fur hunting 
(Isaiah xiii. 21), 

646 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 28. 



6 If I do not remember thee, let m\ tongue cleave to the roof 
of mj mouth : j'ea, if I prefer not Jerusalem in my mirth. 

7 Eeniember the children of Edoin, Lord, in the day of Jeru- 
salem : how they said, Down with it, down with it, even to the 
ground. 

S daughter of Babylon, wasted with misery : yea, happy shall 
he be that rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us. 

9 Blessed shall lie be that taketh thy chilcben : and throweth 
them against the stones. 



Psal. cxxxviii. Confitebor tibi. 

WILL give thanks unto thee, Lord,- 
with my whole heart : even before the gods 
will I sing praise unto thee. 

2 I will worship toward thy holy tem- 
ple, and praise thy Xame, because of thy 
loving-kindness and truth : for thou hast 
magnified thy Xame, and thy AVord, above 
all thincfs. 

3 AYhen I called upon thee, thou heard- 
est me : and enduedst my soul with much streno'th. 

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, Lord : for they 
have heard the words of thy mouth. 

5 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord : that great is the 
glory of the Lord. 

6 For though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the 
lowly : as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off. 

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shalt thou refresh 
me : thou shalt stretch forth thy hand upon the furiousness of mine 
enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. 

8 The Lord shall make good his loving-kindness toward me : yea, 
thy mercy, Lord, endureth for ever ; despise not then the works 
of thine own hands. 

PsAi3i cxxsTiiT. — By some commentators tliis psalm is said to have been composed after the 
Captivity ; by others it is ascribed to David, who is snpposed to have written it on his ascending 
the throne after the death of Sanl. It is a song of joraise which every servant of God may adopt 
when, recollecting his deliverance from spiritual enemies or worldly troubles, he tnrns towards that 
mercy-seat whence the help descended. In the day of trial he fonnd the mercy of God working 
salvation; he was refreshed by His grace — enlightened by His Spirit. How assm-cd then must 
he be that the rest succeeding liis toils will be indescribablv glorious ! 

647 




THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 

MOENING PRAYER. 




LORD, tliou liast searched me out, and 
known me : thou knowest my down-sitting, 
and mine up-rising ; thou understandest my 
thoughts long before. 

2 Thou art about my path, and about my 
bed : and spiest out all my ways. 

3 For lo, there is not a word in my 
tongue : but thou, Lord, knowest it altogether. 

Psalm cxxxix. — This is one of the sublimest and most beautiful of the psalms. It leads us to 
the contemplation of the power and wisdom of God as exercised particularly in the creation of man, 
and in endowing him with those wonderful qualities of both mind and body which have rendered 
him the marvel of the universe. The choicest production of the skilful artificer is that which he 
takes the greatest care to preserve ; and the love and mercy of God towards man correspond to the 
lirst act of His wisdom in His creation. But while mankind at large have the evidence of this 
ti-uth in the common bounty of Divine Providence, the faithful worshippers of the heavenly Fatlier 
experience manifestations of His mercy so deep and full, that they recognize His presence in all 
the circumstances of their lives, and feel that to His constant love they are indebted for those 
happy sensations of peace which keep their hearts serene and tranquil in the midst of "danger. 
This fervent assurance of God's presence and love producing a proportionable gratitude in the soul, 
fidelity, zeal, and devotion, are the glorious fruits ; and it becomes its joy as well as its duty to 
conform itself, in all its ways and dispositions, to the Divine will. 

648 




THE PSALMS. 



Day 29. 



4 Thou hast fashioned me behind and before : and laid thine 
hand upon me. 

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me : I 
cannot attain unto it. 

6 Whither shall I go then from thy Spirit : or whither shall I 
go then from thy presence ? 

7 If I climb up into heaven, thou art there : if I go down to 
hell, thou art there also. 

8 If I take the wdngs of the morning : and remain in the utter- 
most parts of the sea ; 

9 Even there also shall thy hand lead me : and thy right hand 
shall hold me. 

10 If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me : then 
shall my night be turned to day. 

11 Yea, the darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is 
as clear as the day : the darkness and light to thee are both alike. 

12 For my reins are thine : thou hast covered me in my mother's 
womb. 

13 I will give thanks unto thee, for I am fearfully and wonder- 
fully made : marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth 
right well. 

14 My bones are not hid from thee : though I be made secretly, 
and fashioned beneath in the earth. 

15 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect : and 
in thy book were all my members written ; 

16 Which day by day were fashioned : when as yet there was 
none of them. 

17 How dear are thy counsels unto me, God : how great is 
the sum of them ! 

18 If I tell them, they are more in number than the sand : 
when I wake up I am present with thee. 

19 Wilt thou not slay the wicked, God : depart from me, 
ye blood-thirsty men. 

20 For they speak unrighteously against thee : and thine ene- 
mies take thy Name in vain. 

21 Do not I hate them, Lord, that hate thee : and am not 
I grieved with those that rise up against thee ? 

22 Yea, I hate them right sore : even as though they were 
mine enemies. 

23 Try me, God, and seek the ground of ray heart : prove 
me, and examine my thoughts. 

649 4 o 



Day 29. 



THE PSALMS. 



24 Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me : and 
lead me in the way everlasting. 

Psal. cxl. Eri])e me, Bomine. 

f ^'^^ - ELIVER me, O Lord, from the evil 

'^^K'P TtiduTL : and preserve me from the wicked 

1^ 2 Who imagine mischief in their hearts : 
^ I and stir np strife all the day long, 
.-r. 3 They have sharpened their tongues 

': like a serpent : adder's poison is nnder 
^/i^-'^/^' their lips. 

4 Keep me, Lord, from the hands of 
the ungodly : preserve me from the wicked men, who are purposed 
to overthrow my goings. 

5 The proud have laid a snare for me, and spread a net abroad 
with cords : yea, and set traps in my way. 

6 I said unto the Lord, Thou art my Grod : hear the voice of 
my prayers, Lord. 

7 Lord God, thou strength of my health : thou hast covered 
my head in the day of battle. 

8 Let not the ungodly have his desire, Lord : let not his 
mischievous imagination prosper, lest they be too proud. 

9 Let the mischief of their own lips fall upon the head of them : 
that compass me about. 

10 Let hot burning coals fall upon them : let them be cast into 
the fire, and into the pit, that they never rise up again. 

11 A man full of words shall not prosper upon the earth : evil 
shall hunt the wicked person to overthrow him. 

12 Sure I am that the Lord will avenge the poor : and main- 
tain the cause of the helpless. 

13 The righteous also shall give thanks unto thy Name : and 
the just shall continue in thy sight. 



Psalm CXL. — The world, unable to reach Christ Himself, is occupied, in the seasons of its 
pride, with assailing His faithful and devoted people. But the difficulties with which they have 
thereby to contend, obliging them to a more diligent cultivation of spiritual power, lead, in reality, 
to the more complete discomfiture of the adversary. This psalm was probably composed by David 
in a season of great distress. He afforded thi'oughout his life a memorable example of the teu- 
dency of affliction to discipline the heart to thoughtfulness. His prayers thence became as 
earnest as they were frequent ; and his final tranquillity may be regarded as an evidence to every 
future generation of believers of the power of prayer. 

650 



THE PSALMS. 



Day 29. 




Psal. cxli. Domine, clamavi, 

^\ OED, I call upon tliee, haste tliee unto 

me : and consider my voice when I cry 
'7 unto thee. 

- 2 Let my prayer be set forth in thy 

' sight as the incense : and let the lifting 
up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. 

3 Set a watch, Lord, before my 
mouth : and keep the door of my lips. 

4 let not mine heart be inclined to 
any evil thing : let me not be occupied in ungodly works with the 
men that work wickedness, lest I eat of such things as please 
them. 

5 Let the righteous rather smite me friendly : and reprove me. 

6 But let not their precious balms break my head : yea, I will 
pray yet against their wickedness. 

7 Let their judges be overthrown in stony places : that they 
may hear my words, for they are sweet. 

8 Our bones lie scattered before the pit : like as when one 
breaketh and heweth wood upon the earth. 

9 But mine eyes look unto thee, Lord God : in thee is my 
trust, cast not out my soul. 

10 Keep me from the snare that they have laid for me : and 
from the traps of the wicked doers. 

11 Let the ungodly fall into their own nets together : and let 
me ever escape them. 

PsAm cxu. — This is another of the psalms ascribed to David when under persecution. He 
wisely determined that, in order to be secure from the attacks of the wicked, he must himself be 
free from wickedness. To this end he sought Divine grace for the purifying of his heart ; — for this 
he prayed that his conversation might be ordered aright, and that he might at all times enjoy the 
edifying counsels of the holy. In the 6th and 7th verses there is some obscurity ; but it seems 
to be explained on the supposition that David, when speaking of the precious balms of those with 
whom he had to do, alluded to the flattery of the wicked, and its destructive influence ; and 
that, in speaking of the overthrow of their judges, he referred to the defeat that might attend his 
enemies, and to the sentiments of justice and compassion with which he had opjposed their base 
and persevering malice. The mortaht}- of mankmd could scarcely be represented in imagery more 
striking or powerful than that employed in this psalm. " Our bones lie scattered before the pit ; 
like as when one breaketh and heweth wood upon the earth." The conduct of the world appears 
more than ever base and ruinous when considered at the same time with the fleeting natiu-e of 
man's existence. Xot a vestige of those triumphs which successful wickedness has gained over 
patient vh'tue can long remain. Already may the proud, the selfish, the luxurious sensuahst see 
the horn: when his bones shall lie whitening on the earth, like branches of trees long cut down 
and withered. With these images familiar to the mind, still to pursue a course of life abhorrent 
from reason and holiness, is a melancholy proof that sin can take the meaning out of every argu- 
ment that wisdom would suggest for man's conversion. 

651 



Bmj 29. 



THE PSALMS. 



EVENING PRAYER. 

Psal. cxlii. Voce mea ad Bominiim. 



CEIED unto the Lord witli my voice : 
yea, even unto the Lord did I make my 
supplication. 

2 I poured out my complaints before 
him : and shewed him of my trouble. 

3 "When my spirit was in heaviness 
thou hnewest my path : in the way where- 
in T walked have they privily laid a snare 
for me. 

4 I looked also upon my right hand : 
and saw there was no man that would 
know me. 

5 I had no place to flee unto : and no 
man cared for my soul. 

6 I cried unto thee, Lord, and said : Thou art my hope, and 
my portion in the land of the living. 

7 Consider my complaint : for I am brought very low. 

8 deliver me from my persecutors : for they are too strong 
for me. 

9 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks unto thy 
Name : which thing if thou wilt grant me, then shall the righteous 
resort unto my company. 




Ps-iLM cxLn.— This is said to have been composed by David when in the cave of Eugedi. It 
may be adopted by every believer who, conscious of his own weakness and misery, feels that God 
alone, by His mercy and His Spirit, can deliver him fi'om the bondage of corruption— fi'om the 
dangers and temptations of this present evil world. The remembrance of the comforts derived 
from heavenly grace in many former trials teaches the heart to repose with hope on the continued 
support of the same Divine Power. God has delivered ; He will still dehver : and when the soul 
has been thorouglily cleansed from its sin, and can rejoice in its freedom, then will it enjoy the 
piivilege of being admitted for ever into the body of the Church— mto the communion of saints. 
This, like other psalms of a similar character, may be regarded spiritually as proceeding from 
Christ. The world, with all the terrors of whicli it is master when assailing the righteous, rose 
against Christ the instant He announced His mission. John spoke of repentance ; but Christ 
spoke of a cross. Ptepentance is not such a hateful word as death, or the cross. Sin feels that 
it may live again, however bruised by grief or remorse ; but it knows that, once really on the 
cross, it dies never to revive. Hence the hatred of the world to Christ ; and hence the sorrows 
which, according to the nature and t])e office which He had assumed, pressed upon His soul. 
But when His " Spirit was in heaviness'' the Almighty Father knew His path,— rejoiced in His 
successive victories over sin poured down upon Him the fulness of heavenly grace sent 
ministering angels to soothe Him in His hour of extreme agony;— and, at the close of His 
wondrous work, opened the glorious heavens to receive Him in the character of man's Deliverer 
and Lord ! 

652 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 29. 



cxliii. Domine, exaudi. 

EAE my prayer, Lord, and consider 
my desire : hearken unto me for thy truth 
and righteousness' sake. 

2 And enter not into judgement with 
thy servant : for in thy sight shall no man 
living be justified. 

3 For the enemy hath persecuted my 
soul ; he hath smitten my life down to 
the ground : he hath laid me in the dark- 
ness, as the men that have been long dead. 

4 Therefore is my spirit vexed within me : and my heart with- 
in me is desolate. 

5 Yet do I remember the time past; I muse upon all thy 
works : yea, I exercise myself in the works of thy hands. 

6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee : my soul gaspeth unto 
thee as a thirsty land. 

7 Hear me, Lord, and that soon, for my spirit waxeth faint : 
hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down 
into the pit. 

8 O let me hear thy loving-kindness betimes in the morning, 
for in thee is my trust : shew thou me the way tha^t I should walk 
in, for I lift up my soul unto thee. 

9 Deliver me, Lord, from mine enemies : for I flee unto thee 
to hide me. 

10 Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee, for thou art 
my God : let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of 
righteousness. 

11 Quicken me, Lord, for thy Name's sake : and for thy 
righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. 

12 And of thy goodness slay mine enemies : and destroy all 
them that vex my soul ; for I am thy servant. 




Psalm CXLIII.— Confession gives force to prayer in this beautiful and pathetic psahn. The 
recollection of sins — the consciousness of present tendencies to evil — forbids tlie prayer for help 
till an acknowledgment has been made of the utter absence of desert. This done, the fainting 
spirit addresses the Father of mercies in the ti'uest language of faith. It acknowledges His 
loving-kindness, and the benignant power of His grace ; — it looks to their operation as th.e sole 
means of happiness and freedom; — and in the trust that they will be bestowed in answer 
to prayer, it anticipates the dawning of the day to accomplisb this grand part of the work of 
salvation. 

653 



THE THIRTIETH DAY. 



M K N I N G P R AY E K. 




Psal. cxliv. Benedidiis Dominus. 

LESSED be the Lord mj strength : who 
teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers 
to fight ; 

2 My hope and my fi^rtress, my castle 
and dehverer, my defender in whom I 
trust : who snbdueth my people that is 
under me. 

3 Lord, what is man, that thou hast such respect unto him : or 
the son of man, that thou so regardest him ? 

4 Man is like a thing of nought : his time passeth away like a 
shadow. 



Psalm cxliv. — In the retrospect of a life spent in the service of God, how many circumstances 
recur to the mind which impress it with the deepest sense of God's undeserved mercy ! What is 
man that He should treat him with so much compassion ? What is the greatest saint tliat he 
should receive such blessings from the Almighty ? When the hour of peril again returns, the 
soul, strengthened by such meditations, lifts up itself to God, and asks, in the humble trust of a 
thankful faitb, for the assistance of which it stands in need. Do mighty and revengeful foes 
assail it ?— it appeals to the power and inevitable justice of the Most High. Does secret sin 
with subtle venom endanger the life of the spirit?— it prays for renovating gmce. In all respects 
tlie Lord is its hope and its fortress— a strengtli that never fails ! 

654 



THE PSALMS. 



Baij 30. 



5 Bow tliy heavens^ Lord, and come down : touch the moun- 
tains, and they shall smoke. 

6 Cast forth thy lightning, and tear them : shoot out thine 
arrows, and consume them, 

7 Send down thine hand from above : deliver me, and take me 
out of the great waters, from the hand of strange children ; 

8 Whose mouth talketh of vanity : and their right hand is a 
right hand of wickedness. 

9 I will sing a new song unto thee, God : and sing praises 
unto thee upon a ten-stringed lute. 

10 Thou hast given victory unto kings : and hast dehvered 
David thy servant from the peril of the sword. 

11 Save me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children : 
whose mouth talketh of vanity, and their right hand is a right- 
hand of iniquity. 

12 That our sons may grow up as the young plants : and that 
om^ daughters may be as the polished corners of the temple. 

13 That our garners may be full and plenteous with all manner 
of store : that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thou- 
sands in our streets. 

14 That our oxen may be strong to labour, that there be no 
decay : no leading into captivity, and no complaining in our streets. 

15 Happy are the people that are in such a case : yea, blessed 
are the people who have the Lord for their Grod. 

Psal. cxlv. Exaltdbo te, Beus. 

WILL magnify thee, God, my King : 
and I will praise thy Name for ever and 
ever. 

2 Every day will I give thanks unto 
thee : and praise thy Name for ever and 
ever. 

3 Great is the Lord, and marvellous, 
worthy to be praised : there is no end of 
his greatness. 

Psalm cxlv, — It was a common saying among the Jews of old that " he could not fail to be 
a child of God who would repeat this psalm three times every day,'' If this saying was taken 
according to its hteral meaning only, it was as likely to do harm as good, the frequent repetition 
of the most holy form of words being often used to satisfy the mind with a mere show of holiness, 
and thereby take it from the more inward exercise of devotion. But if by the repetition three 

655 




Day 30. 



THE PSALMS. 



4 One generation shall praise thy works unto another : and 
declare thy power. 

5 As for me, I will be talking of thy worship : thy glory, thy 
praise, and wondrons works ; 

6 So that men shall speak of the might of thy marvellous acts : 
and I will also tell of thy greatness. 

7 The memorial of thme abundant kindness shall be shewed : 
and men shall sing of thy righteousness. 

8 The Lord is gracious, and merciful : long-suffering, and of 
great goodness. 

9 The Lord is loving unto every man : and his mercy is over 
all his works. 

10 All thy works praise thee, Lord : and thy saints give 
thanks unto thee. 

1 1 They shew the glory of thy kingdom : and talk of thy power ; 

12 That thy power, thy glory, and mightiness of thy kingdom : 
might be known unto men. 

13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom : and thy dominion 
endureth throughout all ages. 

14 The Lord upholdeth all such as fall : and lifteth up all those 
that are down. 

15 The eyes of aU wait upon thee, Lord : and thou givest 
them their meat in due season. 

16 Thou openest thine hand : and iillest all things living with 
plenteousness. 

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways : and holy in aU his 
works. 

18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him : yea, all 
such as call upon him faithfully. 

1 9 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him : he also wiU 
hear their cry, and will help them. 

20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him : but scattereth 
abroad all the ungodly. 

21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord : and let all 
flesh give thanks unto his holy Name for ever and ever. 

times a-day was meant a true spiritual consideration of the matter contained in tins psalm, then 
the saying would have much of truth in it, and the hearts of believers might derive no small 
comfort from employing the precept in respect not only to the present psalra, but other similar 
portions of the Divine word. The power and goodness of God, exhibited to the mind in the 
language of tlie Holy Spirit, and then hallowed in the prayer of faith, thereby become supports 
to the whole fabric of our spiritual nature, and fill us with the ricliest treasures of holy thought. 

656 



THE PSALMS. 



Daij 30. 



Psai. cxlvi. Lauda, anima 



mea. 




EAISE the Lord, my soul; wliile I 
live will I praise the Lord : yea, as long as 
I have any being, I will sing praises unto 
my God. 

2 put not your trust in princes, nor 
in any child of man : for there is no help 
in them. 

3 For when the breath of man goeth 
forth he shall turn again to his earth : and 

then all his thoughts perish. 

4 Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help : and 
whose hope is in the Lord his God ; 

5 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is : 
who keepeth his promise for ever ; 

6 Who helpeth them to right that suffer wrong : who feedeth 
the hungry. 

7 The Lord looseth men out of prison : the Lord giveth sight to 
the blind. 

8 The Lord helpeth them that are fallen : the Lord careth for 
the righteous. 

9 The Lord careth for the strangei's ; he defendeth the fatherless 
and widow : as for the w^ay of tlie ungodly, he turneth it upside down. 

10 The Lord thy God, Sion, shall be Kiug for evermore : 
and throughout all generations. 



Psalm cxlvi. — This psalm is supposed to have been composed ou the retm-u of the captives 
from Babylon, and some authors conjecture that it formed, with those that follow, the thanksgiving 
hymn sung at tlie dedication of the second temple. Its cheerful language will find an echo iu 
every heart that knows the mercy of God in Christ. 

Psalm cxlvh. — This is also ascribed to the captives returned from Babylon. The 2nd, 13th, 
and 14th verses seem clearly to allude to the difficulties with which they had to contend in rebuild- 
ing Jerusalem, but which were so wonderfully overcome by the protecting arm of God. Nations 
distressed and humbled for their sins, but appealing to the mercy of the Almighty— families 
deprived for a season of peace and prosperity— individuals lying under the chastening hand of 
their heavenly Father — Churches tried by 'persecution— all may gather hope from this beautiful 
psalm in the horn- of their affliction ; and all may learn from it how to praise God when His mercy 
has restored them to their former happiness. 

Psalm cxLvm. — The numberless ranks of created beings are now called upon by the Psalmist to 
join him in singing the praises of the One Universal Lord. A common life— a common essence — 
animates the souls of all intelligent creatures ; and a common bond of strength and harmony unites 
them in an order indescribably sublime and glorious with all that surrounds them. As every being 
then partakes with every other, according to its natm-e, in the one sovereign blessing of God's love, 
so will all, in their proper state of perfection, rejoice to unite in the everlasting chores which 
ascribes glory and dominion to the Lord. 

657 4 p 



Bay 30. 



THE PSALMS. 




EVENING PR AYE K 

Psal. cxlvii. Laudate Dominum. 

~r ^ ' ^ ,^ PEAISE the Lord, for it is a good thing 

-\ ■ ' " " to sing praises unto our God : yea, a joyful 

and pleasant thing it is to be thankful. 

2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem : 
and gather together the outcasts of Israel. 

3 He healeth those that are broken in 
heart : and giveth medicine to heal their 
sickness. 

4 He telletli the number of the stars : 
and calleth them all by their names. 

5 Great is our Lord, and great is his 
power : yea, and his wisdom is infinite. 

6 The Lord setteth up the meek : and 
bringeth the ungodly down to the ground. 

7 sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving : sing praises upon 
the harp unto our God ; 

8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for 
the earth : and maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, and 
herb for the use of men ; 

9 Who giveth fodder unto the cattle : and feedeth the young 
ravens that call upon him. 

10 He hath no pleasure in the strength of an horse : neither 
delighteth he in any man's legs. 

11 But the Lord's dehglit is in them that fear him : and put 
their trust in his mercy. 

12 Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. : praise thy God, Sion. 

13 Tor he hath made fast the bars of thy gates : and hath blessed 
thy children within thee. 

14 He maketh peace in thy borders : and filleth thee with the 
flour of wheat. 

15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth : and his word 
runneth very swiftly. 

16 He giveth snow like wool : and scattereth the hoar-frost like 
ashes. 

17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels : who is able to abide 
his frost ? 

658 



THE PSALMS. 



Bay 30. 



18 He sendetli out his word, and melteth them : he bloweth with 
his wind, and the waters flow. 

19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob : his statutes and ordinances 
unto IsraeL 

20 He hath not dealt so with any nation : neither have the 
heathen knowledge of his laws. 

Psal. cxlviii. Laudate Dominum. 

PEAISE the Lord of heaven praise him 
in the height. 

2 Praise him, all ye angels of his : praise 
him, all his host. 

3 Praise him, sun and moon : praise him, 
all ye stars and light. 

4 Praise him, all ye heavens : and ye 
waters that are above the heavens. 

5 Let them praise the Xame of the 
Lord : for he spake the word, and they were made ; he commanded, 
and they were created. 

6 He hath made them fast for ever and ever : he hath given them 
a law which shall not be broken. 

7 Praise the Lord upon earth : ye dragons, and all deeps ; 

8 Fire and hail, snow and vapours : wind and storm, fulfilling 
his word ; 

9 Mountains and all hills : fruitful trees and aU cedars; 

10 Beasts and all cattle : worms and feathered fowls ; 

11 Kings of the earth and all people : princes and all judges of 
the world; 

12 Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the 
Name of the Lord : for his Name only is excellent, and his praise 
above heaven and earth. 

13 He shall exalt the horn of his people ; all his saints shall 
praise him : even the children of Israel, even the people that serveth 
him. 

Psalm cxlix.— This psalm, connected probably with the former, refers either to rictories 
already gamed, or to some expected tiimnph nigh at hand. The Jews themselves intei-preted it as 
properly applying to the days of the Messiah, in the irresistible progress and final estabhshment 
of whose kingdom this and all other prophetic psalms will have their glorious fulfilment. 

Psalm cl.— The last words of this divine Book are those of praise. It is thus that the Chm-ch 
will sum up its prayers when the days of refreshing come. Dehvered from the power of the 
adversary— exalted to a state of joy and perfection— it will deh^ht to hvmn the praises of Jehovah 

659 




Bay 30. 



THE PSALMS. 




Psal. cxlix. Gantate Domino. 

II!;!!; SING unto the Lord a new song : let the 
congregation of saints praise him. 

2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made 
him : and let the children of Sion be joy- 
ful in their King. 

3 Let them praise his Name in the 
dance : let them sing praises unto him with 
tabret and harp. 

4 For the Lord hath pleasure in his 
people : and helpeth the meek-hearted. 

5 Let the saints be joyful with glory : let them rejoice in their 
beds. 

6 Let the praises of God be in their mouth : and a two-edged 
sword in their hands ; 

7 To be avenged of the heathen : and to rebuke the people ; 

8 To bind their kings in chains : and their nobles with links of 
iron. 

9 That they may be avenged of them, as it is written : Such 
honour have all his saints. 



Psal. cl. Laudate Bominum. 

PEAISE God in his holiness : praise him 
in the firmament of his power. 

2 Praise him in his noble acts : praise 
him according to his excellent greatness. 

3 Praise him in the sound of the trum- 
pet : praise him upon the lute and harp. 

4 Praise him in the cymbals and dances : 
praise him upon the strings and pipe. 

5 Praise him upon the well-tuned cym- 
bals : praise him upon the loud cymbals. 

6 Let every thing that hath breath : praise the Lord. 

through the bright eternity of its existence. The recollection of past trials will give greater sweet- 
ness to eveiy note of its harmonious harps ;— the vision of God la His unveiled Majesty Avill bring 
to mind the many occasions on which it sought with, tears for the manifestation of His mercy; 
—and the perfect happiness of every being that the eye can see, on this side of the outer darkness! 
will animate the loftiest of inteUigences with boundless love, as they exclaim— "Let every thing 
that hath breath praise the Lord !" 




660 



FORMS OF PRAYER 

TO BE 

USED AT SEA. 



Tlie Morning and Evening Service to he used dailij at Sea shall he the same lohich is ajpxjoinied in 
the Booh of Common Prayer. 

Tliese two foUoioing Prayers are to he 
also used in Her Majesty's Navy every 
day. 



OETEENAL Lord God, who alone 
spreadest out the heavens, and 
rulest the raging of the sea ; who hast 
compassed the waters with bounds until 
day and night come to an end; Be 
pleased to receive into thy Almighty 
and most gTacious protection the persons 
of us thy servants, and the Fleet in 
which we serve. Preserve us from the 
dangers of the sea, and from the violence 
of the enemy ; that we may be a safe- 
guard imto our most gracious Sovereign 
Lady, Queen VICTOBIA, and her Do- 
minions, and a security for such as pass 
on the seas upon their lawful occasions ; 
that the inhabitants of oui Island may 
in peace and quietness serve thee oiu^ 
God ; and that we may retm-n in safety 
to enjoy the blessings of the land, with 
the fruits of oui- labours, and with a 
thankful remembrance of thy mercies to 
praise and glorify thy holy Name; 
through Jesus Christ oui- Lord. Amen. 

The Collect. 

PELYENT us, Lord, in aU our 
doings, with thy most gracious 
favour, and further us with thy continual 
help, that in all oui* works begun, con- 
tinued, and ended in thee, we may glo- 
rify thy holy Name, and finally by thy 
mercy obtain everlasting life; through 
Jesus Christ om* Lord. Amen. 

IT Prayers to be used in Storms at Sea. 

OMOST powerful and glorious Lord 
God, at whose command the winds 
blow, and lift up the waves of the sea, 
and who stillest the rage thereof; We 
thy creatures, but miserable sinners, do 
in this oui- great distress cry unto thee 
for help : Save, Lord, or else we perish. 
663 



We confess, when we have been safe, 
and seen all things quiet about us, we 
have forgot thee om- God, and refused to 
hearken to the still voice of thy word, 
and to obey thy commandments : But 
now we see, how terrible thou art in all 
thy works of wonder ; the gTeat God to 
be feared above all : And therefore we 
adore thy Divine Majesty, acknowledging 
thy power, and imploring tby goodness. 
Help, Lord, and save us for thy mercy's 
sake in Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord. 
Amen. 

Or tins, 

OMOST glorious and gracious Lord 
God, who dwellest in heaven, but 
beholdest all things below ; Look down, 
we beseech thee, and hear us, calling out 
of the depth of misery, and out of the 
jaws of this death, which is ready now 
to swallow us up : Save, Lord, or else 
we perish. The living, the living shall 
praise thee. send thy word of com- 
mand to rebuke the raging winds, and 
the roaring sea ; that we, being delivered 
from this distress, may live to serve thee, 
and to glorify thy Name all the days of 
om' life. Hear, Lord, and save us, for 
the infinite merits of our blessed Savioiu', 
thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 



^ Tlie Prayer to he said before a Figlit at 
Sea against ariy Enemy. 

0'^ MOST powerful and glorious Lord 
God, the Lord of hosts, that rulest 
and commandest all things ; Thou sittest 
in the throne judging right, and there- 
fore we make oui' address to thy Divine 
Majesty in this our necessity, that thou 
wouldest take the cause into thine own 
hand, and judge between us and om- 
enemies. Stii- up thy strength, Lord, 
and come and help us ; for thou givest 
not alway the battle to the strong, but 
canst save by many or by few. let 
not our sins now cry against us for 



FOEMS OF PEAYEE TO BE USED AT SEA. 



vengeance ; but hear us thy poor ser- 
vants begging mercy, and imploring thy 
help, and that thou wouldest be a de- 
fence unto us against the face of the 
enemy. Make it appear that thou art 
our Saviour and mighty Deliverer, 
through Jesus Chi'ist oui' Lord. Amen. 

^ SJiort Prayers for single persons that 
cannot meet to join in Prayer with others, 
hy reason of the Fight, or Storm. 

General Prayers. 




OED, be merciful to us sinners, and 
( save us for thy mercy's sake. 



Thou art the great God, that hast 
made and rulest all things : deliver 
us for thy Name's sake. 

Thou art the great God to be feared 
above all : O save us, that we may praise 
thee. 

Special Prayers ivith respect to the 
Enemy. 

THOU, Lord, art just and powerful ; 
defend om^ cause against the 
face of the enemy. 

God, thou art a strong tower of 
defence to all that flee unto thee : save 
us from the violence of the enemy. 

Lord of hosts, light for us, that we 
may glorify thee. 

O suffer us not to sink under the 
weight of our sins, or the violence of 
the enemy. 

Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us 
for thy Name's sake. 

Short Prayers in respect of a Storm. 

THOU, Lord, that stillest the 
raging of the sea, hear, hear us, 
and save us, that we perish not. 

blessed Saviom-, that didst save thy 
disciples ready to perish in a storm, hear 
us, and save us, we beseech thee. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 
Christ, have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 
O Lord, hear us. 
O Chiist, hear us. 

God the Father, God the Son, God 
the Holy Ghost, have mercy upon us, 
save us now and evermore. Amen. 

OUE Father, which art in heaven. 
Hallowed be thy Name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy v/ill be done in 
earth. As it is in heaven. Give us this 
day oui- daily bread. And forgive us 
664 



our trespasses. As we forgive them that 
I trespass against us. And lead us not 
i into temptation; But deliver us from 

evil : For thine is the kingdom. The 

power, and the glory, For ever and ever. 

Amen. 

^ Wlien there shall he imminent danger, as 
many as can lie spared from necessary service 
in the Ship shall be calh d together, and make 
an humhle Confession of tlu-ir sin to God : In 
which every one ought seriously to reflect 
upon those particular sins of icliich his con- 
science shall accuse him; saying, as followeth. 

The Confession. 

A LMIGHT Y God, Father of om- Lord 
Jesus Chi'ist, Maker of all things. 
Judge of all men ; We acknowledge and 
bewail our manifold sins and wickedness. 
Which we, fi'om time to time, most griev- 
ously have conmiitted, B}^ thought, word, 
and deed. Against thy Divine Majesty, 
Provoking most justly thy m^ath and 
indignation against us. We do earnestly 
repent, And are heartily sorry for these 
oiu' misdoings ; The remembrance of 
them is grievous unto us ; The bui'den of 
them is intolerable. Have mercy upon 
us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful 
Father; For thy Son oui' Lord Jesus 
Chi'ist' s sake. Forgive us all that is past ; 
And grant that we may ever hereafter 
Serve and please thee In newness of life. 
To the honour' and glory of thy Name ; 
Through Jesus Chi'ist our Lord. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Priest, if there be any in the 
Ship, pronounce this Absolution. 

ALMIGHTY God oui- heavenly Fa- 
ther, who of his gi-eat mercy hath 
promised forgiveness of sins to all them 
that with hearty repentance and true 
faith turn unto him ; Have mercy upon 
you; pardon and deliver you from all 
your sins ; confirm and strengthen you in 
all goodness, and bring you to everlasting 
life; through Jesus Christ oiu' Lord. 
Amen. 

Tlianl^sgiving after a Storm. 

Jubilate Deo. Psal. Ixvi. 

OBE joyful in God, all ye lands : 
sing praises unto the honoiu- of his 
Name, make his praise to be glorious. 

Say unto God, how wonderful art 
thou in thy works : through the great- 
ness of thy power shall thine enemies be 
found liars unto thee. 



FOEMS OF PEAYEE TO BE USED AT SEA. 



_ For all the world shall worship thee : 
sing of thee, and j^raise thy Name. 

O come hither, and behold the works 
of God : how wonderful he is in his doing 
toward the chikben of men. 

He turned the sea into dry land : so 
that they went through the water on foot ; 
there did we rejoice thereof. 

He ruleth with his power for ever ; 
his eyes behold the people : and such as 
will not believe shall not be able to exalt 
themselves. 

praise our God, ye people : and 
make the voice of his praise be heard ; 

Who holdeth our soul in life : and 
suffereth not our feet to slip. 

For thou, God, hast proved us : 
thou also hast tried us, like as silver is 
tried. 

Thou broughtest us into the snare : 
and laidest trouble upon our loins. 

Thou sufferedst men to ride over our 
heads : we went through fire and water, 
and thou broughtest us out into a wealthy 
place. 

1 vdll go into thine house with burnt- 
offerings : and will pay thee my vows, 
which I promised with my lips, and 
spake with my mouth, when I was in 
trouble. 

I will offer unto thee fat burnt-sacri- 
fices, with the incense of rams : I will 
offer bullocks and goats. 

come hither, and hearken, all ye 
that fear God : and I will tell you what 
he hath done for my soul. 

1 called imto him with my mouth : and 
gave him praises with my tongue. 

If I incline unto wickedness with mine 
heart : the Lord will not hear me. 
^ But God hath heard me : and con- 
sidered the voice of my prayer. 

Praised be God who hath not cast out 
my prayer : nor turned his mercy from 
me. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be : world without end. 
Amen. 

Confitemini Domino. Psal. cvii. 

OGIVE thanks unto the Lord, for he 
is gracious : and his mercy en- 
dm^eth for ever. 

Let them give thanks whom the Lord 
hath redeemed : and delivered from the 
hand of the enemy ; 
665 



And gathered them out of the lands, 
^ from the east, and from the west : from 
the north, and from the south. 

They went astray in the wilderness 
out of the way : and found no city to 
dwell in ; 

Hungry and thirsty : their soul fainted 
in them. 

So they cried unto the Lord in their 
trouble : and he delivered them from 
their distress. 

He led them forth by the right way : 
that they might go to the city where they 
dwelt. 

O that men would therefore praise the 
Lord for his goodness : and declare the 
wonders that he doeth for the children 
of men ! 

For he satisfieth the empty soul : and 
filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 

Such as sit in darkness, and in the 
shadow of death : being fast bound in 
misery and iron ; 

Because they rebelled against the 
words of the Lord : and lightly re- 
garded the counsel of the most Highest ; 

He also brought down their heart 
through heaviness : they fell down, and 
there was none to help them. 

So when they cried unto the Lord in 
their trouble : he delivered them out of 
their distress. 

For he brought them out of darkness, 
and out of the shadow of death : and 
brake their bonds in sunder. 

O that men would therefore praise the 
Lord for his goodness : and declare the 
wonders that he doeth for the children 
of men ! 

For he hath broken the gates of brass : 
and smitten the bars of iron in sunder. 

Foolish men are plagued for their 
offence : and because of their wickedness. 

Their soul abhorred all manner of 
meat : and they were even hard at death's 
door. 

So when they cried unto the Lord in 
their trouble : he delivered them out of 
their distress. 

He sent his word, and healed them : and 
they were saved from their destruction. 

O that men would therefore praise the 
Lord for his goodness : and declare the 
wonders that he doeth for the childi-en 
of men ! 

That they would offer unto him the 
sacrifice of thanksgiving : and tell out 
his works with gladness ! 

4 Q 



FOKMS OF PEAYEE TO BE USED AT SEA. 



They that go down to the sea in 
ships : and occupy their business in 
o;reat waters ; 

These men see the works of the Lord : 
and his wonders in the deep. 

For at his word the stormy wind 
ariseth : which lifteth up the weaves 
thereof. 

They are carried up to the heaven, 
and down again to the deep : their soul 
melteth away because of the trouble. 

They reel to and fro, and stagger like 
a drunken man : and are at their wit's 
end. 

So when they cry unto the Lord in 
their trouble : he delivereth them out of 
their distress. 

For he maketh the storm to cease : so 
that the waves thereof are still. 

Then are they glad, because they are 
at rest : and so he bringeth them unto 
the haven where they would be. 

O that men would therefore praise the 
Lord for his goodness : and declare the 
wonders that he doeth for the children 
of men ! 

That they would exalt him also in the 
congregation of the people : and praise 
him in the seat of the elders ! 

Who turneth the floods into a wilder- 
ness : and drieth up the water-springs. 

A fruitful land maketh he barren : 
for the wickedness of them that dwell 
therein. 

Again, he maketh the wilderness a 
standing water : and water-springs of a 
dry ground. 

And there he setteth the himgry : that 
they may build them a city to dwell in ; 

That they may sow their land, and 
plant vineyards : to yield them fruits of 
increase. 

He blesseth them, so that they mul- 
tiply exceedingly : and suffereth not their 
cattle to decrease. 

And again, when they are minished, 
and brought low : through oppression, 
through any plague, or trouble ; 

Though he suffer them to be evil in- 
treated through tyrants : and let them 
wander out of the way in the wilderness ; 

Yet helpeth he the poor out of misery : 
and maketh him housholds like a flock 
of sheep. 

The righteous will consider this, and 
rejoice : and the mouth of all wicked- 
ness shall be stopped. 

Whoso is wise will ponder these 
666 



things : and they shall understand the 
loving-kindness of the Lord. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : 
and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be : world without end. 
Amen. 

Collects of Thanhsgiving, 

OMOST blessed and glorious Lord 
God, who art of infinite goodness 
and mercy ; We thy poor creatures, 
whom thou hast made and preserved, 
holding our souls in life, and now rescu- 
ing us out of the jaws of death, humbly 
present ourselves again before thy Divine 
Majesty, to offer a sacrifice of praise and 
thanksgiving, for that thou heardest us 
when we called in our trouble, and didst 
not cast out our prayer, which we made 
before thee in our great distress : Even 
when we gave all for lost, our ship, our 
goods, our lives, then didst thou merci- 
fully look upon us, and wonderfully com- 
mand a deliverance ; for which we, now 
being in safety, do give all praise and 
glory to thy holy Name ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Or this : 

OMOST mighty and gracious good 
God, thy mercy is over all thy 
works, but in special manner hath been 
extended toward us, whom thou hast so 
powerfully and wonderfully defended. 
Thou hast shewed us terrible things, and 
wonders in the deep, that we might see 
how powerful and gracious a God thou 
art ; how able and ready to help them 
that trust in thee. Thou hast shewed us 
how both winds and seas obey thy com- 
mand ; that we may learn, even from 
them, hereafter to obey thy voice, and 
to do thy will. We therefore bless and 
glorify thy Name, for this thy mercy in 
saving us, when we were ready to perish. 
And. we beseech thee, make us as truly 
sensible now of thy mercy, as we were 
then of the danger : And give us hearts 
always ready to express our thankfulness, 
not only by words, but also by our lives, 
in being more obedient to thy holy com- 
mandments. Continue, we beseech thee, 
this thy goodness to us ; that we, whom 
thou hast saved, may serve thee in holi- 
ness and righteousness all the days of 
our life ; through Jesus Christ our Lord 
and Saviour. Amen. 



FOKMS OF PKAYEE 



TO BE USED AT SEA, 



An Hymn of Praise and Thanksgiving 
after a dangerous Tempest. 

OCOME, let lis give thanks unto tlie 
Lord, for he is gracious : and his 
mercy endureth for ever. 

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be 
praised ; let the redeemed of the Lord 
say so : whom he hath delivered from 
the merciless rage of the sea. 

The Lord is gi-acious and full of com- 
passion : slow to anger, and of great 
mercy. 

He hath not dealt with us according 
to oiu' sins : neither rewarded us accord- 
ing to our iniquities. 

But as the heaven is high above the 
earth : so great hath been his mercy 
towards us. 

We found trouble and heaviness : we 
were even at death's door. 

The waters of the sea had well-nigh 
covered us : the proud waters had well- 
nigh gone over our soul. 

The sea roared : and the stormy wind 
lifted up the waves thereof. 

We were carried up as it were to 
heaven, and then down again into the 
deep : our soul melted within us, be- 
cause of trouble ; 

Then cried we unto thee, Lord : and 
thou didst deliver us out of our distress. 

Blessed be thy Name, who didst not 
despise the prayer of thy servants : but 
didst hear our cry, and hast saved us. 

Thou didst send forth thy command- 
ment : and the windy storm ceased, and 
was turned into a calm. 

O let us therefore praise the Lord for 
his goodness : and declare the wonders 
that he hath done, and still doeth for the 
children of men. 

Praised be the Lord daily : even the 
Lord that helpeth us, and poureth his 
benefits upon us. 

He is our God, even the God of whom 
Cometh salvation : God is the Lord by 
whom we have escaped death. 

Thou, Lord, hast made us glad through 
the operation of thy hands : and we will 
triumph in thy praise. 

Blessed be the Lord God : even the 
Lord God, who only doeth wondrous 
things ; 

And blessed be the Name of his Ma- 
jesty for ever : and let every one of us 
say, Amen, Amen. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 
667 



As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be : world without end. 
Amen. 

2 Cor. xiii. 

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the fel- 
lowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us 
all evermore. Amen. 



After Victory or Deliverance from an 
Enemy. 

A Psalm or Hymn of Praise and Thanhs- 
giving after Victory. 

IF the Lord had not been on our side, 
now we may say : if the Lord him- 
self had not been on our side, when men 
rose up against us ; 

They had swallowed us up quick : 
when they were so wrathfully displeased 
at us. 

Yea, the waters had drowned us, and 
the stream had gone over om- soul : the 
deep waters of the proud had gone over 
our soul. 

But praised be the Lord : who hath 
not given us over as a prey unto them. 

The Lord hath wrought : a mighty 
salvation for us. 

We gat not this by our own sword, 
neither was it our own arm that saved 
us : but thy right hand, and thine arm, 
and the light of thy countenance, because 
thou hadst a favour unto us. 

The Lord hath appeared for us : the 
Lord hath covered our heads, and made 
us to stand in the day of battle. 

The Lord hath appeared for us : the 
Lord hath overthrown our enemies, and 
dashed in pieces those that rose up 
against us. 

Therefore not unto us, Lord, not 
unto us : but unto thy Name be given 
the glory. 

The Lord hath done great things for 
us : the Lord hath done great things for 
us, for which we rejoice. 

Our heljD standeth in the Name of 
the Lord : who hath made heaven and 
earth. 

Blessed be the name of the Lord : 
from this time forth for evermore. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be : world without end. 
Amen. 



FOEMS OF PEAYEE TO BE USED AT SEA. 



^ After this Eymn may he sung the Te 
Denm. 

t Then this Collect. 

ALMIGHTY God, the Sovereign 
Commander of all the world, in 
whose hand is power and might which 
none is able to withstand ; We bless and 
magnify thy great and glorious Name 
for this haj^py Victory, the whole glory 
whereof we do ascribe to thee, who art 
the only giver of Victory. And, we be- 
seech thee, give us grace to improve this 
great mercy to thy glory, the advance- 
ment of thy Gospel, the honour of our 
Sovereign, and, as much as in us lieth, to 
the good of all mankind. And, we be- 
seech thee, give us such a sense of this 
gTeat mercy, as may engage us to a true 
thankfulness, such as may appear in our 
lives by an humble, holy, and obedient 
walking before thee all our days, thi'ough 
Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom with 
thee and the Holy Spirit, as for all thy 
mercies, so in particular for this Victory 



and Deliverance, be all glory and honour, 
world without end. Amen. 

2 Cor. xiii. 

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the fel- 
lowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us 
all evermore. Amen. 



At the Burial of their Bead a t Sea. 

\ TJie Office in the Common Prayer-hook may he 
used ; only instead of these words [We there- 
fore commit his body to the ground, earth 
to earth, &c.'] say, 

WE therefore commit his body to the 
deep, to be turned into corruption, 
looking for the resurrection of the body, 
(v\^hen the Sea shall give up her dead,) 
and the life of the world to come, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ ; who at his com- 
ing shall change our vile body, that it 
may be like his glorious body, according 
to the mighty working, whereby he is 
able to subdue all things to himself. 



NOTE. 

Pakticular attention was paid in the ancient Latin Church to the religious instruction of 
marmers. They were provided ^Yith an office to be read daily, and known under the name of the 
Missa Nautica. This is said to have been similar to the short service called 3Iissa Catechumenorum, 
and contamed only such prayers as might be offered up without too long an interruption to the 
biismess of the ship. The present Forms did not form a part of om- Liturgy till the last review. 
They consist of prayers admirably adapted for the solemn occasions to which they refer. The 
fcrst two are appointed to be used daily, together with the regular forms of Morning and Evening 
Prayer ; and the whole collection affords a proof of the pious anxiety of those engaged in the re- 
view of the Liturgy to leave no class of men, into whatever situation they might be thrown, with- 
out an appropriate guide to devotion. 



668 



i 




III Hi 

11., 



vimj'i] 











— i 




THE 

FOmi AXD MAXNEE OF MAKI>n^G, OEDAINING, 
AND COXSECEATING 

OF 

BISHOPS, PRIESTS, AND DEACONS, 

ACCORDING TO THE OEDEE OF 



THE PREFACE. 

TT is evident unto all men diligently reading the My Scri]jture and ancient 
Authors, that from the Apostles' time there have leen these Orders 
of Ministers in Christ's Church-, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Which 
Offices were evermore had in such reverends Estimation, that no man might 
presume to execute any of them, except he were first called, tried, examined, 
and known to have such cjualities as are requisite for the same ; and also hy 
pullick Prayer, with Praposition of Hands, were approved and admitted 
thereunto ly lavjful Authority, And therefore, to the intent that these Orders 
may he continued, and reverently used and esteemed, in the United Church of 
England a.nd Ireland ; no man shall he accounted or taken to he a lawful 
Bishop, Priest, or Beacon in the United Church of England and Ireland, 
or suffered to execute any of the said Functions, except he he called, tried, 
examined, and admitted thereunto, according to the Form hereafter following, 
or hath had formerly Episcopcd Consecration, or Ordination. 

And none shall he admitted a Beacon, except he he Tiventy-three years of 
age, unless he have a Faculty. And every man vjhich is to he admitted a 
Priest, shall he fuU Four-and-tiverdy years old. And every man ujhich is to 
he ordained or consecrcded Bishop shall he fidly Tliirty years of age. 

And the Bishop, knowing either hy himself, or hy sufficient testimony, 
any Person to he a man of virtuous conversation, and without crime; and, 
afftr examination and trial, finding him learned in the Latin Tongue, and 
sufficiently instructed in holy Scripture, raay at the times appointed in the 
Ccmon, or else, on urgent occasion, upon same other Sunday or Holy-day, 
in the face of the Church, admit him a Deacon, in such manner and form as 
hereafter folJoveth. 

' 669 



THE 



FORM AND MANNER 



MAKING OF DEACONS. 



t When the day appointed by the Bishop is come, after Morning Prayer is ended, there shall he a 
Sermon or Exhortation, declaring the Duty and Office of such as come to be admitted Deacons ; 
how necessary that Order is in the Church of Christ, and also, howthe people ought to esteem them 
in their Office. 



^ First the Archdeacon, or his Beputy, shall \ 
present unto the Bishop (sitting in his chair I 
near to the holy Table) such as desire to be I 
ordained Deacons, {each of them being de- 
cently habited,) saying these words, 

REVEREND Father in God, I pre- 
sent unto you these persons pre- 
sent, to be admitted Deacons. 

The BisJwp. 

TAKE heed that the persons, whom 
ye present unto us, be apt and 
meet, for their learning and godly con- 
versation, to exercise their Ministry duly, 
to the honour' of God, and the edifying 
of his Chui'ch. 

T[ The Archdeacon shcdl answer, 

I HAVE enquired of them, and also 
examined them, and think them so 
to be. 

1 Then the Bishop shcdl say unto the people : 

BRETHREN, if there be any of you 
who knoweth any Impediment, or 
notable Crime, in any of these persons 
presented to be ordered Deacons, for 
the which he ought not to be admitted 
to that Office, let him come forth in the 
Name of God, and show what the Crime I 
or Impediment is. 

^ And if any great Crime or Impediment be ob- 
jected, the Bishop shcdl surcease from Order- 
ing that person, until such time as tite party 
accused shcdl be found clear of that Crime. 

^ Then the Bishop {commending such as shcdl : 
be found meet to be Ordered to ^the Prayers of \ 
the congregation ^Injl, with the Clergy and \ 
peop>le present, snn, say the Litany, ivith \ 
the Prayers a^ foUoiveth. j 

27(6 Litany and Suffrages, I 

OGOD the Father, of heaven : have | 
mercy upon us miserable sinners, j 
God the Father, of heaven : have I 
mercy ujpon us miserable sinners. \ 
670 



God the Son, Redeemer of the 
world : have mercy upon us miserable 
sinners. 

O God tlie Son, Bedeenier of the 
luorld : have mercy upon us miseraUe 
sinners. 

God the Holy Ghost, proceeding 
from the Father and the Son : have mercy 
upon us miserable sinners. 

God the Holy Ghost, proceeding 
from the Father and the Son : have mercy 
upon us miserable sinners. 

holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, 
thi^ee Persons and one God : have mercy 
U23on us miserable sinners. 

holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, 
three Ferscns and one God : have mercy 
upon us miser ahle sinners. 

Remember not, Lord, our offences, 
nor the offences of our forefathers ; nei- 
ther take thou vengeance of our sins : 
spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, 
whom thou hast redeemed wdth thy most 
precious blood, and be not angry with us 
for ever. 

Spare us, good Lord. 
From all evil and mischief ; from sin, 
from the crafts and assaults of the devil ; 
from thy \^Tath, and from everlasting 
damnation, 

Good Lord, deliver us. 
From all "blindness of heart ; from 
pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy ; from 
envy, hatred, and malice, and all un- 
charitableness, 

Good Lord, deliver us. 
From fornication, and all other deadly 
sin ; and from all the deceits of the world, 
the flesh, and the devil, 

Good Lord, deliver us. 
From lightning and tempest ; from 
plague, pestilence, and famiine ; from 



THE OEDEPiIXG OF DEACOXS. 



battle and miuxler. and from sudden 
death, 

Good LorJ. ddiver us. 

From all sedition, privy conspiracy, 
and rebellion ; from all false doctrine. 
lieresT, and schism ; fi'om hardness of 
heai't. and contempt of thy Word and 
Commandment, 

Good Lord, delrcer us. 

By the mystery of thy holy Incar- 
nation ; by thy holy Xativity and Cir- 
cumcision : by thy Baptism, Fasting, 
and Temj^tation. 

Good Lord, deliver us. 

By thine Agony and bloody Sweat ; by 
thy Cross and Passion : by thy precions 
Death and Bnrial : by thy glorious Ee- 
siuTection and Ascension ; and by the 
coming of the Holy Ghost, 

Good Lord, deliver us. 

In all time of onr tribulation ; in all 
time of onr wealth : in the honr of death, 
and in the day of judgement, 
Good Lord, d diver us. 

We sinners do beseech thee to hear 
us. Lord God ; and that it may please 
thee to rule and govern thy holy Chm-ch 
universal in the right way ; 

We beseech tliee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to keep and 
sti'eng-then in the ti'ue worshipping of 
thee, in righteousness and holiness of 
life, thy Servant VICTOELA oux most 
gTacious Queen and Governom^ ; 

We beseech thee to h^ar us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to rule her 
heai't in thy faith, fear, and love, and 
that she may evermore have affiance in 
thee, and ever seek thy honour and 
glory ; 

We beseech thee to hear us. good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to be her 
defender, and keeper, giving her the 
victory over all her enemies ; 

TTe beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to bless and 
-piesexre Albert Edurird Timce of Wales, 
the Princess of Wales, and all the Eoyal 
Family ; 

We beseech the to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to illuminate 
all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, ^^ith 
true knowledge and imderstanding of thy 
(371 



Word ; and that both by their preaching 
and living they may set it forth, and 
shew it accordingly ; 

TFe beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to bless these 
thy servants, now to be admitted to the 
Order of Deacons, [or Priests,] and to 
pour thy gTace upon them ; that they 
may duly execute their office, to the edify- 
ing of thy Chuix-h, and the glory of thy 
holy Name ; 

TFe beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to endue the 
Lords of the Coimcil. and all the Mo- 
bility, with grace, wisdom, and imder- 
standing ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good. 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to bless and 
keep the ^Magistrates, giving them grace 
to execute justice, and to maintain truth ; 

TTe beseech thee to hear us. good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to bless and 
keep all thy people : 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to give to all 
nations unity, peace, and concord ; 

We beseech thee to hear us. good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to give us an 
heart to love and dread thee, and dili- 
gently to live after thy commandments : 

TT^'e beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to give to all 
thy people increase of grace to hear 
meekly thy Word, and to receive it 
^ith pm-e affection, and to bring forth 
the fruits of the Spirit : 

TFe beseech thee to hear us. good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to bring into 
the way of truth aE such as have erred, 
and are deceived : 

TFe beseech thee to hear us. good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to strengthen 
such as do stand ; and to comfort and 
help the weak-hearted : and to raise wp 
them that fall ; and finally to beat down 
Satan under oiu' feet : 

TFe beseech thee to hear us. good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to succom-, 



-^HE OEDEEING OF DEACONS. 



help, and comfort, all tliat are in danger, 
necessity, and tribulation ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to preserve 
all that travel by land or by water, all 
women labouring of child, all sick per- 
sons, and yoimg children ; and to shew 
thy pity upon all prisoners and captives ; 

We beseech thee to hear vs, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to defend, 
and provide for, the fatherless children 
and mdows, and all that are desolate and 
oppressed ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to have mercy 
npon all men ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to forgive our 
enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and 
to turn their hearts ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

That it may please thee to give and 
preserve to om use the kindly fruits of 
the earth, so as in due time we may 
enjoy them ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lwd. 

That it may please thee to give us 
true repentance ; to forgive us all our 
sins, negligences, and ignorances ; and 
to endue us with the grace of thy Holy 
Spirit to amend our lives according to 
thy holy Word ; 

We beseech thee to hear us, good 
Lord. 

Son of God : we beseech thee to hear 
us. 

Son of God : we beseech thee to hear 

us. 

Lamb of God : that takest away 
the sins of the world ; 

Grant us thy peace. 
O Lamb of God : that takest away 
the sins of the world ; 

Have mercy upon us. 
Christ, hear us. 
Christy hear us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Lord, have mercy upon us. 
Christ, have mercy upon us. 

Christ, have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 
Loi-d, have mercy upon us. 
672 



II Then shall the Priest, and the people lolth him, 
say the Lord's Prayer. 

OUE Father, which art in heaven, 
Hallowed be thy Name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this 
day our daily bread. And forgive us 
om- trespasses, As we forgive them that 
trespass against us. And lead us not 
into temptation ; But deliver us from 
evil. Amen. 

Priest. O Lord, deal not with us after 
oui^ sins. 

Answer. Neither reward us after, our 
iniquities. 

Let us pray. 

OGOp, merciful Father, that de- 
spisest not the sighing of a con- 
trite heart, nor the desire of such as be 
sorrowful ; Mercifully assist our prayers 
that we make before thee in all our 
troubles and adversities, whensoever they 
opj)ress us ; and graciously hear us, that 
those evils, which the craft and subtilty 
of the devil or man worketh against us 
be brought to nought ; and by the pro- 
vidence of thy goodness they may be 
dispersed ; that we thy servants, being 
hm-t by no persecutions, may evermore 
give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church ; 
through Jesus Christ oui- Lord. 

Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us, 
for thy Name's sake. 

OGOD, we have heard with our ears, 
and our fathers have declared unto 
us, the noble works that thou didst in 
their days, and in the old time before 
them. 

Lorcl arise, help us, and deliver us 
for thine honour. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost. 

Ansiver. As it v>^as in the beginning, 
is now, and ever shall be : world without 
end. Amen. 

From our enemies defend us, Christ. 

Graciously look upon our afflictions. 

Pitifully behold the sorrows of our 
hearts. 

Mercifully forgive the sms of thy 
people. 

Favourably with mercy hear om' 
prayers. 

Son of David, have mercy upon 

us. 

Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear 
us, O Christ. 



THE OEDERING OF DEACONS. 



Graciously hear us, Christ; gra- 
cimishj hear us, O Lord Christ. 

Priest. Lord, let thy mercy be 
shewed upon us ; 

Answer. As we do put our trust in 
tliee. 

Let us pray. 

WE humbly beseech thee, Father, 
mercifully to look upon our in- 
firmities ; and for the glory of thy Name 
turn from us all those evils that we 
most righteously have deserved ; and 
grant, that in all our troubles we may 
put our whole trust and confidence in 
thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in 
holiness and pureness of living, to thy 
honom- and glory; through our only 
Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

^ Then shall he sung or said the Service for the 
Communion, with the Collect, Epistle, and 
Gospel, as foUoweth. 

The Colled. 

ALMIGHTY God, who by thy Divine 
Providence hast appointed divers 
Orders of Ministers in thy Church, and 
didst inspire thine Apostles to choose 
into the Order of Deacons the first Martyr 
Saint Stephen, with others ; Mercifully 
behold these thy servants now called to 
the like Office and Administration ; re- 
plenish them so with the truth of thy 
Doctrine, and adorn them with inno- 
cency of life, that, both by word and 
good example, they may faithfully serve 
thee in this Office, to the glory of thy 
Name, and the edification of thy Chm'ch ; 
through the merits of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee 
and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. 
Amen. 

The Epistle. 1 Tim. iii. 8. 

LIKEWISE must the Deacons be 
grave, not double tongued, not 
given to much wine, not greedy of filthy 
lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in 
a pure conscience. And let these also 
first be proved ; then let them use the 
Office of a Deacon, being found blame- 
less. Even so must their wives be grave, 
not slanderers, sober, faithful in all 
things. Let the Deacons be the hus- 
bands of one wife, ruling their children 
and their own houses well. For they 
that have used the Office of a Deacon 
well purchase to themselves a good 
673 



degree, and great boldness in the faith 
which is in Christ Jesus. 

Or else this, out of the sixth of the Acts of the 
Apostles. 

Acts vi. 2. 

THEN the twelve called the multitude 
of the disciples unto them, and said, 
It is not reason that we should leave the 
Word of God, and serve tables. Where- 
fore, brethren, look ye out among you 
seven men of honest report, full of the 
holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may 
appoint over this business. But we will 
give ourselves continually to prayer, and 
to the ministry of the Word. And the 
saying pleased the whole multitude. 
And they chose Stephen, a man full of 
faith, and of the holy Ghost, and Philip, 
and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, 
and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte 
of Antioch ; whom they set before the 
Apostles ; and, when they had prayed, 
they laid their hands on them. And the 
Word of God increased, and the number 
of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem 
greatly, and a great company of the 
Priests were obedient to the faith. 

^ And before the Gospel, the Bishop, sitting in 
his chair, shall cause the Oath of the Queens 
Supremacy, and against the power and au- 
thority ofcdl foreign Potentates, to he minis- 
tered unto every one of them that are to he 
Ordered. 

The Oath of the Queen's Soverei(jnty. 

IA. B. diO swear, that I do from my 
heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as 
impious and heretical, that damnable 
Doctrine and Position, that Princes ex- 
communicated or deprived by the Pope, 
or any authority of the See of Eome, 
may be deposed or murdered by their 
Subjects, or any other whatsoever. And 
I do declare, that no foreign Prince, Per- 
son, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, or 
ought to have, any Jurisdiction, Power, 
Superiority, Pre-eminence, or Authority, 
Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this 
Eealm. So help me God. 

*\ Tlien shall the Bishop examine every one of 
them that are to he Ordered, in the presence 
of the people, after this manner folloioing. 

DO you trust that you are inwardly 
moved by the Holy Ghost to take 
upon you this Office and Ministration, 
to serve God for the promoting of his 
glory, and the edifying of his people ? 
Ansii^er. I trust so. 

4 K 



THE OEDEKING OF DEACONS. 



The Bishop. 

DO you think that you are truly called, 
according to the will of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and the due order of this 
Eealm, to the Ministry of the Chiu-ch ? 
Answer. I think so. 

The Bishop. 

DO you unfeignedly believe all the 
Canonical Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testament ? 

Answer. I do believe them. 

The Bishop. 

WILL you diligently read the same 
unto the people assembled in 
the Chm'ch where you shall be appointed 
to serve? 

Answer. I will. 

The Bishop. 

IT appertaineth to the Office of a 
Deacon, in the Church where he 
shall be appointed to serve, to assist the 
Priest in Divine Service, and specially 
when he ministereth the holy Commu- 
nion, and to help him in the distribution 
thereof, and to read holy Scriptm^es and 
Homilies in the Chm^ch ; and to instruct 
the youth in the Catechism ; in the ab- 
sence of the Priest to baptize infants, and 
to preach, if he be admitted thereto by ! 
the Bishop. And furthermore, it is his j 
Office, where provision is so made, to I 
search for the sick, poor, and impotent I 
people of the Parish, to intimate their | 
estates, names, and places where they 
dwell, unto the Curate, that by his ex- 
hortation they may be relieved with the 
alms of the Parishioners, or others. Will 
you do this gladly and willingly ? 

Answer. I will so do, by the help of 
God. 

The Bishop. 

WILL you apply all your diligence 
to frame and fashion your own 
lives, and the lives of yom- families, ac- 
cording to the Doctrine of Christ ; and 
to make both yom'selves and them, as 
much as in you lieth, wholesome examples 
of the flock of Christ ? 

Ansicer. I will so do, the Lord being 
my helper. 

The Bishop. 

WILL you reverently obey your Or- 
dinary, and other chief Ministers 
of the Chm-ch, and them to whom the 
charge and government over you is com- 
674 



mitted, following with a glad mind and 
will their godly admonitions ? 

Answer. I will endeavour myself, the 
Lord being my helper. 

^ Then the Bishop laying his Hands severally 
upon the Head of every one of them, humbly 
kneeling before Mm, shall say, 

TAKE thou Authority to execute the 
Office of a Deacon in the Chm^ch 
of God committed unto thee ; In the 
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

^ Then shall the Bishop deliver to every one of 
them the New Testament, saying, 

TAKE thou Authority to read the 
Gospel in the Church of God, and 
to preach the same, if thou be thereto 
licensed by the Bishop himself. 

% Tlien one of them, appointed by the Bishop, 
shall read the Gospel. 

St. Luke xii. 35. 

LET your loins be girded about, and 
yom' lights burning ; and ye your- 
selves like unto men that wait for their 
Lord, when he will return from the 
wedding ; that, when he cometh and 
knocketh, they may open unto him im- 
mediately. Blessed are those servants, 
whom the Lord when he cometh shall 
find watching. Yerily I say unto you, 
that he shall gird himself, and make 
them to sit down to meat, and will come 
forth and serve them. And if he shall 
come in the second watch, or come in 
the third watch, and find them so, 
blessed are those servants. 

^ Then shall the Bishop proceed in the Com- 
munion, and all that are Ordered shall tarry, 
and receive the holy Communion the same day 
with the Bishop. 

% TJie Communion ended, after the last Collect, 
and immediately before the Benediction, shall 
be said these Collects following, 

ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good 
things, who of thy great goodness 
hast vouchsafed to accept and take these 
thy servants unto the Office of Deacons 
in thy Church ; Make them, we beseech 
thee, Lord, to be modest, humble, and 
constant in their Ministration, to have a 
ready will to observe all spiritual Disci- 
pline ; that they having always the testi- 
mony of a good conscience, and con- 
tinuing ever stable and strong in thy 
Son Christ, may so well behave them- 



THE OEDEEIXCt OF PEIESTS. 



selves in tliis inferior Office, that tliej 
may be found worthy to be called imto 
the higher IWLinistries in thy Chiu'ch : 
through the same thy Son oni' Sayioiir 
Jesiis Christ, to -whom be glory and 
honoiu" world without end. Amen. 

PEETEXT ns, Lord, in aU om- 
doings, with thy most gracious 
faTom, and finther ns with thy continnal 
help : that in all onr works begim, con- 
tinued, and ended in thee, we may o-lorify 



thy holy Name, and finally by thy mercy 
obtain everlasting life; thi-ongh Jesus 
Christ om- Lord. Amen. 



^T^HE i^eace of God, which passeth all 
1 understanding, keep yonr hearts 
and minds in the knowledge and love 
of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ 
our Lord : And the Blessing of God 
Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain 
with you always. Amen. 



*; And. here if must le d^dart 
sX-'O-ce of a u-l.ol-: 
to the 'inteiit he 
Adraini strati on. In c 
lyy his Diocesan to the ( ' 
occasion, upon some ot^c-.r 
form as hereafter foUoiceth. 



d unfr. fl, ri,ac:n. that he mud cnntinue in that O^r, n- a Benon. 



11 



THE F0E3I AXD I^IAXNEE 

OF 

OEDEEIXG OF PEIESTS. 



^ When the day app-dn-^ed hy the Bishop is come, after Morninn Prayer is ended, there shall he a 
Sermon or Exhor-- ' ifringthe JDidy and Oficr: if sum, ,d v,. 7.^ /(.Irnitted Friests : how 
necessary that Ord . . . d-e Cdairch of ^Cnrist. a\id odiL- d^.. ^ --m^^ '-''-^'d^'i esteera them in 
their OMce. 



% First, th.e Archdeacon, or, /: ' ^ one 

appointed in his stead, slia'' - do the 

Bishop sittinQ ' ■< ' - " / ^/ 

TaUe anthem r - ■ V 

Priesthood that . : ' : . . . / : - . de- 
cently hadjited\ and say, 

REYEEEXD Father in God, I pre- 
' sent unto you these persons pre- 
sent, to be adniitted to the Order of 
Priesthood. 

Tue Biiimp. 

TAKE heed that the persons, whom 
ye present unto us, be apt and 
meet, for their learning and godly con- 
versation. to exercise their Ministry duly, 
to the honour of God, and the edifying 
of his Church. i 

* Thit Archdeacon shcdl ansv:er, I 

I HAVE enquired of them, and also 
examined them, and think them so 
to be. 

Thien lae Bishop shcdl say undo the people : | 

aOOD people, these are they whom ' 
we pmpose, God willing, to receive 
this day unto the holy Office of Priest- ! 
675 



hood : For after dtie examination we 
find not to the contrary, but that they be 
lawfully called to their Fimction and 
Ministry, and that they be persons meet 
for the same. But yet if there be any 
of you, who knoweth any Impediment, 
or notable Crime, in any of them, for the 
which he ought not to be received into 
this holy Ministry, let him come forth in 
the Name of God, and shew what the 
Crime or Impediment is. 

And if any great Crime or Impediment he ob- 
jected, die Bishop shall surcease from Order- 
ing that person, until such time as the party 
accused shall he found clear of that Crime. 

% Then the Bishop ' commending sucli asshaUhe 
found Uied tc> he Ordered the Prayers of the 
congrtgatioit : shcdl, urith the Clergy and peo- 
ple present, sing or say tlm Ldany, with the 
Prayers, as is hefore apprdnted in the Form 
of Ordering Deacons ; save only, that, in the 
jjropm >>frage there added, the word [Dea- 
cons] slicdl he omitted, and the word [Priests] 
inserted insttad of it. 

•7 Then shcdl he sung or said the Service for the 
Communion, udth the Collect, FpAstle, and 
Gospel, as foUoweth. 



THE OKDEKING OF PEIESTS. 



The Collect. 

ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good 
things, who by thy Holy Spirit 
hast appointed divers Orders of Ministers 
in the Church ; Mercifully behold these 
thy servants now called to the Office of 
Priesthood ; and replenish them so with 
the truth of thy doctrine, and adorn them 
with innocency of life, that, both by 
word and good example, they may faith- 
fully serve thee in this Office, to the 
glory of thy Name, and the edification 
of thy Church ; through the merits of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, 
world without end. Amen. 

The Epistle. Ephes. iv. 7. 

UNTO every one of us is given grace, 
according to the measure of the 
gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, 
When he ascended uj) on high, he led 
captivity captive, and gave gifts unto 
men. (Now that he ascended, what is 
it but that he also descended first into 
the lower parts of the earth ? He that 
descended, is the same also that ascended 
up far above all heavens, that he might 
fill all things.) And he gave some 
Apostles, and some Prophets, and some 
Evangelists, and some Pastors and 
Teachers ; for the perfecting of the 
Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for 
the edifying of the Body of Christ ; till 
we all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God', 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of 
the stature of the fulness of Christ. 

t After this shall he read for the Gospel part of 
the ninth Chapter of Saint Matthew, as fol- 
loiceth. 

St. Matth. ix. 36. 

WHEN Jesus saw the multitudes, 
he was moved with compassion 
on them, because they fainted, and were 
scattered abroad as sheep having no shep- 
herd. Then saith he unto his disciples. 
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the 
labourers are few. Pray ye therefore 
the Lord of the harvest, that he will 
send forth labourers into his harvest. 

% Or else this that folloiceth, out of the tenth 
Chapter of Saint John. 
St. John X. 1. 

VEPJLY, verily I say unto you, He 
that enfcereth not by the door into 
the sheep-fold, but climbeth up some 
676 



other way, the same is a thief and a 
robber. But he that entereth in by the 
door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To 
him the porter openeth, and the sheep 
hear his voice ; and he calleth his own 
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 
And when he putteth forth his own sheep 
he goeth before them, and the sheep 
follow him ; for they know his voice. 
And a stranger will they not follow, but 
will flee from him ; for they know not 
the voice of strangers. This parable 
spake J esus unto them, but they under- 
stood not what things they were which 
he spake unto them. Then said Jesus 
unto them^again, Yerily, verily I say 
unto you, i am the door of the sheep. 
All that ever came before me are thieves 
and robbers ; but the sheep did not hear 
them. I am the door ; by me if any 
man enter in, he shall be saved, and 
shall go in and out, and find pastui'e. 
The thief cometh not but for to steal, and 
to kill, and to destroy : I am come that 
they might have life, and that they 
might have it more abundantly. I am 
the good Shepherd : the good Shepherd 
giveth his life for the sheep. But he 
that is an hireling, and not the Shep- 
herd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth. 
the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, 
and fleeth ; and the wolf catcheth them, 
and scattereth the sheep. The hireling 
fleeth, because he is an hireling, and 
careth not for the sheep. I am the good 
Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am 
known of mine. As the Father knoweth 
me, even so know I the Father ; and I 
lay down my life for the sheep. And 
other sheep I have, which are not of this 
fold : them also I must bring, and they 
shall hear my voice ; and there shall be 
one fold, and one Shepherd. 

^ Tlien the Bishop, sitting in his chair, shall 
minister unto every one of them the Oath con- 
cerning the Queens Supremacy, as it is before 
set forth in the Form for the Ordering of 
Deacons. 

f And that done, he shall say unto them as here- 
after folloioeth. 

TOU have heard. Brethren, as well in 
yom- private examination, as in the 
exhortation which was now made to you, 
and in the holy Lessons taken out of the 
Gospel, and the writings of the Apostles, 
of what dignity, and of how great import- 
ance this Office is, whereunto ye are 
called. And now again we exhort you, 



THE OKDEKINa OF PEIESTS. 



in tlie IS'ame of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that you have in remembrance, into how 
high a Dignity, and to how weighty an 
Office and Charge ye are called : that is 
to say, to be Messengers, Watchmen, 
and Stewards of the Lord ; to teach, and 
to premonish, to feed and provide for the 
Lord's family ; to seek for Christ's sheep 
that are disj)ersed abroad, and for his 
children who are in the midst of this 
naughty world, that they may be saved 
through Christ for ever. 

Have always therefore printed in yom^ 
remembrance, how great a treasure is 
committed to your charge. For they are 
the sheep of Christ, which he bought 
with his death, and for whom he shed his 
blood. The Chiu-ch and Congregation 
whom you must serve, is his Spouse, and 
his Body. And if it shall happen the 
same Chui'ch, or any Member thereof, to 
take any hurt or hindrance by reason of 
youi" negligence, ye know the greatness 
of the fault, and also the horrible punish- 
ment that will ensue. Wherefore con- 
sider with yom'selves the end of your 
Ministry towards the children of God, 
towards the Spouse and Body of Christ ; 
and see that you never cease your labour, 
yom- care and diligence, until you have 
done all that lieth in you, according to 
youi' bounden duty, to bring all such as 
are or shall be committed to yom' charge, 
unto that agreement in the faith and 
knowledge of God, and to that ripeness 
and j)erfectness of age in Christ, that 
there be no place left among you, either 
for error in religion, or for viciousness 
in life. 

Forasmuch then as yom' Office is both 
of so great excellency, and of so great 
difficulty, ye see with how great care and 
study ye ought to apply yourselves, as 
well that ye may shew yourselves dutiful 
and thankful unto that Lord, who hath 
placed you in so high a Dignity ; as also 
to beware, that neither you yourselves 
offend, nor be occasion that others offend. 
Howbeit, ye cannot have a mind and will 
thereto of yom-selves ; for that will and 
ability is given of God alone : therefore 
ye ought, and have need, to pray ear- 
nestly for his holy Spirit. And seeing 
that you cannot by any other means 
compass the doing of so weighty a work, 
pertaining to the salvation of man, but 
with doctrine and exhortation taken out 
of the holy Scriptures, and with a life 
677 



agreeable to the same ; consider how 
studious ye ought to be in reading and 
learning the Scriptures, and in framing 
the manners both of yourselves, and of 
them that specially pertain unto you, 
according to the rule of the same Scrip- 
tm'es : and for this self-same cause, how 
ye ought to forsake and set aside (as 
much as you may) all worldly cares and 
studies. 

We have good hope that you have well 
weighed and pondered these things with 
yourselves long before this time ; and 
that you have clearly determined, by 
God's grace, to give yourselves wholly to 
this Office, whereunto it hath pleased 
God to call you : so that, as much as 
lieth in you, you will apply yourselves 
wholly to this one thing, and draw all 
yom' cares and studies this way ; and 
that you will continually pray to God the 
Father, by the Mediation of om' only 
Saviour Jesus Christ, for the heavenly 
assistance of the Holy Ghost ; that, by 
daily reading and weighing of the Scrip- 
tures, ye may wax riper and stronger in 
yom' Ministry ; and that ye may so en- 
deavom' yourselves, from time to time, to 
sanctify the lives of you and yours, and 
to fashion them after the Eule and 
Doctrine of Clu-ist, that ye may be whole- 
some and godly examples and patterns 
for the people to follow. 

And now, that this present Congrega- 
tion of Christ here assembled may also 
understand your minds and \\dlls in these 
things, and that this your promise may 
the more move you to do your duties, ye 
shall answer plainly to these things, 
which we, in the Name of God, and of 
his Church, shall demand of you touch- 
ing the same. 

DO you think in yom- heart, that you 
be truly called, according to the 
will of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
order of this United Church of England 
and Ireland, to the Order and Ministry 
of Priesthood ? 

Ansiver. I think it. 

TJie Bishop. 

A EE you persuaded that the holy 
Scriptures contain sufficiently all 
Doctrine required of necessity for eternal 
salvation through faith in Jesus Chi-ist ? 
and are you determined, out of the said 
Scriptm'es to instruct the people com- 



THE OKDEKING OF PKIESTS. 



mitted to your charge, and to teach no- 
thing, as required of necessity to eternal 
salvation, but that which you shall be 
persuaded may be concluded and j^roved 
by the Scriptiu'e '? 

Ansiver. I am so persuaded, and have 
so determined by God's grace. 

The Bishop. 

WILL you then give your faithful 
diligence always so to minister 
the Doctrine and Sacraments, and the 
Discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath 
commanded, and as this Church and 
Eealm hath received the same, according 
to the Commandments of God ; so that 
you may teach the people committed to 
your Cure and Charge with all diligence 
to keep and observe the same ? 

Answer. I will so do, by the help of 
the Lord. 

The Bishop. 

WILL you be ready, with all faithful 
diligence, to banish and drive 
away all erroneous and strange doctrines 
contrary to God's word ; and to use both 
publick and private monitions and ex- 
hortations, as well to the sick as to the 
whole, within yom- Cures, as need shall 
require, and occasion shall be given ? 

Answer. I will, the Lord being my 
helper. 

The Bishop. 

WILL you be diligent in Prayers, 
and in reading of the holy Scrip- 
tures, and in such studies as help to the 
knowledge of the same, laying aside the 
study of the world and the flesh? 

Answer. I will endeavour myself so 
to do, the Lord being my helper. 

The Bishop). 

WILL you be diligent to frame and 
fashion your own selves, and 
your families, according to the Doctrine 
of Christ ; and to make both yourselves 
and them, as much as in you lieth, 
wholesome examples and patterns to the 
flock of Christ ? 

Answer. I will apply myself thereto, 
the Lord being my helper. 

The Bishop. 
ILL you maintain and set for- 
wards, as much as lieth in you, 
quietness, peace, and love, among all 
Christian people, and especially among 
them that are or shall be committed to 
your charge ? I 

678 ' 



Answer. I will so do, the Lord being 
my helper. 

Tlie Bishop. 

WILL you reverently obey your Or- 
dinary, and other chief Ministers, 
unto whom is committed the charge and 
government over you ; following with a 
glad mind and will their godly admo- 
nitions, and submitting yourselves to 
their godly judgments ? 

Answer. I will so do, the Lord being 
my helper. 

1 Then shall the Bishop, standing up, say, 

ALMIGHTY God, who hath given 
you this will to do all these things ; 
Grant also unto you strength and power 
to perform the same ; that he may accom- 
plish his work which he hath begun in 
you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

^ After this, the Congregation shall he desired, 
secretly in their Prayers, to maJie their humble 
supplications to God for all these things : for 
the ivhich Prayers there shall he silence kept 
for a space. 

^ After lohich shall he sung or said hy the Bishop 
{the persons to he Ordained Priests all kneel- 
ing) Veni, Creator Spiritus ; the Bishop he- 
ginning, and the Priests, and others that are 
present, ansivering hy verses, as followeth. 

COME, Holy Ghost, our souls in- 
spire, 

And lighten witli celestial fire. 
Thou the anointing Spirit art, 
Who dost thy seven-fold gifts impart. 

Thy blessed Unction from above. 
Is comfort, life, and fire of love. 
Enable with perpetual light 
TJie didness of our blinded sight. 

Anoint and cheer our soiled face 
With the abundance of tliy grace. 
Keep far our foes, give peace at home : 
Where thou art guide, no ill can come. 

Teach us to know the Father, Son, 
And thee, of both, to be but One. 
That, through the ages all along, 
This may be our endless song ; 

Praise to thy eternal merit, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Or this. 

COME, Holy Ghost, eternal God, 
Proceeding from above. 
Both from the Father and the Son, 
The God of peace and love ; 




THE OEDEEING OF PEIESTS. 



Visit our minds, into our hearts 
Tlij heavenly grace inspire ; 

That truth and godliness we may 
Pursue imth full desire. 

Thou art the very Comforter 

In grief and all distress ; 
The heav'nly gift of God most high, 

No tongue can it express ; 

The fountain and the living spring 

Of joy celestial ; 
The fire so hright, the love so sweet, 

The Unction spiritual. 

Thou in thy gifts art manifold, 

By them Christ's Church doth stand : 

In faithful hearts thou wrifst thy law, 
The finger of God^s hand. 

According to thy promise, Lord, 
Thou givest speech with grace ; 

That thro' thy help God's praises may 
Besound in every place. 

Holy Ghost, into our minds 
Send down thy heav'nly light ; 

Kindle our hearts with fervent zeal. 
To serve God day and night. 

Our weakness strengthen and confirm, 
(For, Lord, thou know'st us frail ;) 

That neither devil, ivorld, nor flesh, 
Against us may prevail. 

Put back our enemy far from us. 
And help us to obtain 

Peace in our hearts with God and man, 
{The hest, the truest gain ;^ 

And grant that thou being, O Lord, 

Our leader and our guide. 
We may escape the snares of sin. 

And never from thee slide. 

Such measures of thy powerful grace, 
Grant, Lord, to us, we pray ; 

That thou may'st he our Comforter 
At the last dreadfid day. 

Of strife and of dissention 
Dissolve, Lord, the bands, 

And knit the knots of peace and love 
Throughout all Christian lands. 

Grant us the grace that we may know 

The Father of all might, 
Tliat toe of his beloved Son 

May gain the blissful sight ; 

And that we may with perfect faith 

Ever acknowledge thee. 
The Spirit of FatJier, and of Son, 

One God in Persons Three. 
679 



To God the Father laud and praise, 

And to his blessed Son, 
And to the Holy Spirit of grace. 

Co-equal Three in One. 

And pray we, that our only Lord 
Would please his Spirit to send 

On all that shall profess his Name, 
From hence to the world's end. 
Amen. 

^ That done, the Bishop shall pray in this wise, 
and say, 

Let US pray. 

ALMIGHTY God, and heavenlj 
Father, who, of thine infinite love 
and goodness towards us, hast given to 
us thy only and most dearly beloved Son 
Jesus Christ, to be our Eedeemer, and 
the Author of everlasting life ; who, after 
he had made perfect our redemption by 
his death, and was ascended into heaven, 
sent abroad into the world his Apostles, 
Prophets, Evangelists, Doctors, and 
Pastors ; by whose labour and ministry 
he gathered together a great flock in all 
the parts of the world, to set forth the 
eternal praise of thy holy Name : For 
these so great benefits of thy eternal 
goodness, and for that thou hast vouch- 
safed to call these thy servants here pre- 
sent to the same Office and Ministry ap- 
pointed for the salvation of mankind, 
we render unto thee most hearty thanks, 
we praise and worship thee ; and we 
humbly beseech thee, by the same thy 
blessed Son, to grant unto all, which 
either here or elsewhere call upon thy 
holy Name, that we may continue to 
shew ourselves thankful unto thee for 
these and all other thy benefits ; and 
that we ma}" daily increase and go for- 
wards in the knowledge and faith of thee 
and thy Son, by the Holy Spirit. So 
that as well by these thy Ministers, as 
by them over whom they shall be ap- 
pointed thy Ministers, thy holy Name 
may be for ever glorified, and thy blessed 
kingdom enlarged ; through the same thy 
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth 
and reigneth with thee in the unity of 
the same Holy Spirit, world without end. 
Amen. 

^ When this Prayer is done, the Bishop with the 
Priests present shall lay their hands severally 
upon the head of every one that receiveth the 
Order of Priesthood ; the Receivers h umhly 
hneeling upon their knees, and the Bishop 
saying. 



THE CONSECEATIOK OF BISHOPS. 



KECEIYE the Holy Gliost for the 
Office and Work of a Priest in the 
Church of God, now committed imto 
thee by the ImjDosition of om- hands. 
Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are 
forgiven; and whose sins thou dost 
retain, they are retained. And be thou 
a faithful Disi^enser of the Word of God, 
and of his holy Sacraments ; In the Js^ame 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

1 Then the Bishop shall deliver to every one of* 
them Jrneeling, the Bihie into his hand, saying, 

TAKE thou Authority to j^reach the 
Word of God, and to minister the 
holy Sacraments in the Congregation, 
where thou shalt be lawfully appointed 
thereunto. 

t When this is done, the Nicene Creed shall he 
Sling or saidj^ and the Bishop shall after that 
go on in the Service of the Communion, which 
cdl they that receive Orders shall tahe toqe- 
ther, and remain in the same phn-P Khl^rt 
Sands were laid upon them, until such time 
as they have received the Communion. 

1 TJie Communion being done, after the last Col- 
lect, a.nd immedifdely hefore the Benediction, 
shall he scud these Collects. 



vants thy heavenly blessing ; that they 
may be clothed with righteousness, and 
that thy AYord spoken by their mouths 
may have such success, that it may never 
be spoken in vain. Grant also, that we 
may have gTace to hear and receive what 
they shaU deliver out of thy most holy 
Word, or agreeable to the same, as the 
means of our salvation ; that in aU our 
words and deeds we may seek thy glory, 
and the increase of thy kingdom ; throug'h 
Jesus Christ oui' Lord. Amen. 

PREVEA^T us, Lord, in all our 
doings, with thy most gracious 
favour, and f mother us with thy continual 
help ; that in aU om- works begun, con- 
tinued, and ended in thee, we may glorify 
thy holy jS'ame, and finally by thy'inercy 
obtain everlasting life "^'^ " ' ^ 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



through Jesus 



THE peace of God, which passeth aU 
understanding, keep your hearts 
and minds in the knowledge and love of 
God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord : And the blessing of God Almightv, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
be amongst you, and remain with you 
always. Amen. 

^ i^t'-^Z n'Jr' f ^'"^r ^'^'^^"-^ f/"-^^^ ^^^^ of Priesthood to 

othei.; the Deacons shall he first presented, and then the Priests: and it .IwU sulfice that the 

which fh^: thr n^ f l shcdl he Hi^e,. IT. 7-13, a. before in this Ornce. Immediately after 
n ^n- f • f ' ^^''^""-^ "^^'^ ^''^'^ ^^'^ Oath of Supremacy, he examin^ Ld 

% ? .7 n' ^^^^"-'^ i^^^^' Office; or else, St. Luke xii. 35-38, as before in 

Onl J'V''' ^'9'"'^ '-^ Deacons), they that are to he made Priests .hall liheicise Udete 
Oath of Supremacy, he e:camined, and Ordained, as is in this Office hefore appointed 



MOST merciful Father, we beseech 
thee to send upon these thy ser- 



THE FOEM OF OEDAIXIXG OE COXSECEATIXG 

OF AX 

ARCHBISHOP OR BISHOP; 

•vrnicn is al^tats to be peefop.med rro2s- some sr>-DAY or holt-bat. 



1 When all things are duhj prepared in the 
Church, and set in order. <iftfr Morninq 
Grayer _h end.d^ fj,,^ Arcldnslwp (or some 
other Bishop appoint. d) shall beqin the Com- 
munion bervice: in ichich this shall he 

The Collect. 
A LMIGHTY God, who by thy Son 
2X Jesus Christ didst give to thy 
holy Apostles many excellent gifts, and 
didst charge them to feed thy flock: Give 
gi-ace, we beseech thee, to "all Bishops 
and Pastors of thy Chui'ch, that they | 



may diligently preach thy Word, and 
duly administer the godly Discipline 
thereof; and grant to the people, that 
they may obediently foUow the same; 
that all may receive the crown of ever- 
lasting glory ; through Jesus Christ oui- 
Lord. Amen. 
H And another Bishop shall read the Epistle. 
1 Tim. iii. 1. 

THIS is a true saying. If a man desire 
the Office of a Bishop, he desireth 



THE CONSECBATION OF BISHOPS. 



a good work. A Bishop then must be 
blameless, the husband of one wife, 
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given 
to hospitality, apt to teach ; not given 
to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy 
lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not 
covetous ; one that ruleth well his own 
house, having his ehUdren in subjection 
with all gravity ; (For if a man know 
not how to rule his own house, how shall 
he take care of the Church of God ?) Not 
a novice, lest being lifted up with pride 
he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 
Moreover, he must have a good report 
of them which are without ; lest he fall 
into reproach, and the snare of the devil. 

Or this : 
For the Epistle. Acts xx. 17. 

FEOM Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus, 
and called the elders of the Church. 
And when they were come to him he 
said unto them. Ye know, from the first 
day that I came into Asia, after what 
manner I have been with you at all sea- 
sons, serving the Lord with all humility 
of mind, and with many tears and temp- 
tations which befel me by the lying in 
wait of the Jews : And how I kept back 
nothing that was profitable unto you, 
but have shewed you, and have taught 
you publickly, and from house to house, 
testifying both to the Jews, and also to 
the Greeks, repentance toward God, and 
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
now behold, I go bound in the spirit 
imto Jerusalem, not knowing the things 
that shall befal me there ; save that the 
Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, 
saying, That bonds and afQictions abide 
me. But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course with 
joy, and the ministry which I have re- 
ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the 
Gospel of the grace of God. And now 
behold, I know that ye all, among whom 
I have gone preaching the kingdom of 
God, shall see my face no more. Where- 
fore I take you to record this day, that I 
am pure from the blood of all men. For 
I have not shunned to declare unto you 
all the counsel of God. Take heed there- 
fore unto yourselves, and to all the flock 
over the which the Holy Ghost hath 
made you Overseers, to feed the Church 
of God, which he hath purchased with 
his own blood. For I know this, that 
681 



after my departing shall grievous wolves 
enter in among you, not sparing the 
flock. Also of your own selves shall 
men arise speaking perverse things, to 
draw away disciples after them. There- 
fore watch, and remember, that by the 
space of three years, I ceased not to warn 
every one night and day with tears. And 
now, brethren, I commend you to God, 
and to the word of his grace, which is 
able to build you up, and to give you an 
inheritance among all them which are 
sanctified. I have coveted no man's 
silver, or gold, or apparel ; yea, ye your- 
selves know, that these hands have mi- 
nistered unto my necessities, and to them 
that were with me. I have shewed you 
all things, how that so labouring ye ought 
to support the weak ; and to remember 
the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
It is more blessed to give than to receive. 

^ Then another Bishop shall read the Gospel. 

St. John xxi. 15. 

JESUS saith to Simon Peter, Simon, 
son of J onas, lovest thou me more 
than these ? He saith unto him, Yea, 
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. 
He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He 
saith to him again the second time, Simon, 
son of J onas, lovest thou me ? He saith 
unto him. Yea, Lord, thou knowest that 
I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed 
my sheep. He saith unto him the third 
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou 
me ? Peter was grieved because he said 
unto him the third time, Lovest thou me ? 
And he said unto him. Lord, thou knowest 
all things ; thou knowest that I love thee. 
J esus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 

Or else this. St. John xx. 19. 

THE same day at evening, being the 
first day of the week, when the 
doors were shut where the disciples were 
assembled for fear of the Jews, came 
Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith 
unto them, Peace be unto you. And 
when he had so said, he shewed unto 
them his hands and his side. Then 
were the disciples glad when they saw 
the Lord. Then saith Jesus to them 
again, Peace be unto you : as my Father 
hath sent me, even so send I you. And 
when he had said this, he breathed on 
them, and saith unto them, Eeceive ye 
the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye 
remit, they are remitted unto them ; and 
4 s 



THE CONSECKATION OF BISHOPS. 



whosesoever sins ye retain, tiiey are 
retained. 

Or this. St. Matth. xxviii. 18. 

JESUS came and spake unto tLem, 
saying, All jDower is given unto me 
in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore 
and teach all nations, baptizing them In 
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you : and lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world. 

After the Gospel, and the Nicene Creed and 
the Sermon are ended, the Elected Bishop 
{vested ivith his Rochet) shall he presented by 
two Bishops unto the Archbishop of that pro- 
vince {or to some other Bishop appointed by 
laivful commission) the Archbishop sitting in 
his chair near theholy Table, and the Bishops 
that present him saying, 

MOST Reverend Father in God, we 
present unto you this godly and 
well-learned man to be Ordained and 
Consecrated Bishop. 

% Then shall the Archbishop demand the Queens 
Mandate for the Consecration, and cause it to 
be read. And the Oath touching the achnoio- 
ledgment of the Queen's Supremacy, shall be 
ministered to the persons elected, as it is set 
dozen before in the Form for the Ordering of 
Deacons. And then shall cdso be ministered 
unto them the oath of due Obedience to the 
Archbishop, as folloiceth. 

The Oath of due Obedience to the Arch- 
bishop. 

IN the Name of God. Amen. I A^. 
chosen Bishop of the Church and 
kSee of A^. do profess and promise all due 
reverence and obedience to the Arch- 
bishop and to the Metropolitical Church 
of A. and to their Successors : So help 
me God, thi'ough Jesus Christ. 

f This Oath shcdl not be made cd the Consecra- 
tion of an Archbishop. 

^ Tlien the Arclibishop shall move the Congre- 
gation present to pray, saying thus to them : 

BRETHREN, it is written in the 
Gospel of Saint Luke, that om- 
Saviom' Christ continued the whole night 
in prayer, before he did choose and send 
forth his twelve Apostles. It is written 
also in the Acts of the Apostles, That 
the Disciples who were at Antioch did 
fast and pray, before they laid hands on 
Paul and Barnabas, and sent them forth. 
Let us therefore, following the example 
of our Saviour Christ, and his Apostles, 
682 



first fall to prayer, before we admit, and 
send forth this person presented unto us, 
to the work whereunto wo trust the Holy 
Ghost hath called him. 

II And then shall be said the Litany, as before 
in the Form of Ordering Beacons, save only, 
that after this place That it may please tbee 
to illuminate all Bisliops, &c. the joroper 
Suffrage there folloioing shall be omitted, and 
this inserted instead of it ; 

THAT it may please thee to bless this 
our Brother elected, and to send 
thy grace upon him, that he may duly 
execute the Oface whereunto he is called, 
to the edifying of thy Church, and to the 
honom-, praise and glory of thy Name ; 

Answer. We beseech thee to hear us, 
good Lord. 

^ Then shall be said this Prayer following. 
\ ^ LMIGHTY God, giver of all good 
ii. things, who by thy Holy Spirit 
hast appointed divers Orders of Minis- 
ters in thy Church ;. Mercifully behold 
this thy servant now called to thu Work 
and Ministry of a Bishop ; and re- 
plenish him so with the truth of thy 
doctrine, and adorn him with innocency 
of life, that, both by word and deed, he 
may faithfully serve thee in this Office, 
to the glory of thy Name, and the edify- 
ing and well-governing of thy Church ; 
through the merits of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, who liveth and reigneth with 
thee and the Holy Ghost, world without 
end. Amen. 

% Then the Archbishop, sitting in his chair, shcdl 
say to him thcd is to be Consecrated, 

BROTHER, forasmuch as the holy 
Scripture and the ancient Canons 
command, that we should not be hasty 
in laying on hands, and admitting any 
person to Government in the Church of 
Christ, which he hath purchased with no 
less price than the effusion of his own 
blood ; before I admit you to this Admi- 
nistration, I will examine you in certain 
Ai'ticles, to the end that the Congrega- 
tion present may have a trial, and bear 
witness, how you be minded to behave 
yom-self in the Chm^ch of God. 

ARE you persuaded that you be truly 
called to this Ministration, ac- 
cording to the will of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the order of this Realm ? 
Answer. I am so persuaded. 



THE CONSECEATIOX OF BISHOPS. 



The ArclihisJioj). 

ARE you persuaded that the holy 
Scriptiu-es contain sufficiently all 
doctrine required of necessity for eternal 
salvation thi'ough faith in Jesus Christ ? 
And are you determined out of the same 
holy Scriptui-es to instruct the people 
committed to yoiu' charge ; and to teach 
or maintain nothing as required of ne- 
cessity to eternal salvation, but that 
which you shall be persuaded may be 
concluded and proved by the same ? 

AnsKer. I am so persuaded, and de- 
termined, by God's grace. 

Tiie ArclihisTiOp. 

WILL you then faithfully exercise 
yom?self in the same holy Scrip- 
tures, and call upon God by prayer, for 
the true understanding of the same ; so 
as you may be able by them to teach 
and exhort with wholesome Doctrine, 
and to withstand and convince the gain- 
sayers ? 

Answer. I will so do, by the help of 
God. 

The Archbishop. 

A EE you ready, with all faithful dili- 
gence, to iDanish and drive away 
all erroneous and strange doctrine con- 
trary to God's Word ; and both privately 
and openly to call upon and encourage 
others to the same ? 

Ansicer. I am ready, the Lord being 
my helper. 

Tlie Archhishop. 

WILL you deny all ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, and live soberly, 
righteously, and godly, in this present 
world ; that you may shew yourself in 
all things an example of good works 
unto others, that the adversary may be 
ashamed, having nothing to say against 
you? 

Answer. I will so do, the Lord being 
my helper. 

The ArcliljlsJwp. 

WILL you maintain and set forward, 
as much as shall lie in you, 
quietness, love, and peace among all 
men ; and such as be unquiet, disobe- 
dient, and criminous, ^Aithin your Dio- 
cese, correct and punish, according to 
such authority as you have by God's 
Word, and as to you shall be committed 
by the Ordinance of this Eealm ? 

Answer. I will so do, by the help of 
God. 

683 



Th« Arrhhi,]iop>. 
TT7ILL you be faithful in Ordaining, 
VV sending, or laying hands upon 
others ? 

Answer. I will so be, by the help of 
God. 

The Arclthisiiop. 
TiriLL you shew yourself gentle, and 
V V be merciful for Christ's sake to 
poor and needy people, and to all 
strangers destitute of help ? 

Answer. I will so shew myself, by 
God's help. 

^ Then the Archbishop standing up shall say, 
A LMIGHTY God, our heavenly Fa- 
j \_ ther, who hath given you a good 
will to do all these things. Grant also 
unto you strength and power to perform 
the same ; that, he accomplishing in 
you the good work ^^•hich he hath begun, 
you may be found perfect and irrepre- 
hensible at the latter day ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

^ Then iliuU tJie Bishop dect put on the rest 
of tilt Episcopal hahit ; and hneeling doicn, 
Yeui, Crecitor Spiritus, shall he sung or said 
over hira, the Archbishop beginning, and the 
Bishops, icith others thcd are present, ansicer- 
ing by verses, as folloioeth . 

COME, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, 
An d liphten witli celestial fire. 
Thou the anointing Spirit art, 
TT7?o dost thy seven-fold gifts inijjcirf. 
Thy blessed Unction from above, 
Is comfort, life, and fire of love. 
Enable with perj^etual light 
The dulness of our Minded sight. 
Anoint and cheer our soiled face 
With the cdtundance of thy grace. 
Keep far our foes, give peace at home : 
Wliere tlioii art guide, no ill can come. 
Teach us to know the Father, Son, 
And thee, of both, to he hut One. 
That, through the ages all along. 
This may he our endless song : 
Praise to thy eternal merit. 
Father, Son, and Holy Sprtrit. 

Or this : 

QOME, Holy Ghost, eternal God, &c. 

As before in the Form for Ordering Priests. 

% Thcd ended, the Archbishop shcdl scup 

Lord, hear oui' j)i'ayer. 
Answer. And let our cry come unto 
thee. 



THE CONSECEATION OF BISHOPS. 



Let lis pray. 

ALMIGHTY God, and most merciful 
Father, w ho of thine infinite good- 
ness hast given thine only and dearly 
beloved Son J esus Christ, to be our Ee- 
deemer, and the author of everlasting 
life ; who, after that he had made perfect 
om- Eedemption by his death, and was 
ascended into heaven, poui-ed down his 
gifts abundantly upon men, making some 
Apostles, some Prophets, some Evan- 
gelists, some Pastors and Doctors, to the 
edifying and making perfect his Church ; 
Grant, we beseech thee, to this thy ser- 
vant such gTace, that he may evermore 
be ready to spread abroad thy Gospel, 
the glad tidings of reconciliation mth 
thee ; and use the authority given him, 
not to destruction, but to salvation ; not 
to hurt, but to help : so that as a wise 
and faithful servant, giving to thy family 
their portion in due season, he may at 
last be received into everlasting joy; 
thi-ough Jesus Chi-ist oui- Lord, who, 
with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and 
reigneth, one God, world without end. 
Amen. 

5 Then the Archbishop and Bishops present 
shall lay their hands upon the head of the 
elected Bishop hieeling before them upon his 
Irnees, the Archbishop) saying, 

ECEIYE the Holy Ghost, for the 
Office and Work of a Bishop in 
the Chm-ch of God, now committed unto 
thee by the Imposition of our hands ; In 
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And 
remember that thou stir up the gi-ace of 
God which is given thee by this Impo- 
sition of our hands ; for God hath not 
given us the spirit of fear, but of povv^er, 
and love, and soberness. 

*ll Then the Archbishop shall deliver him the 
Bible, saying, 

GIVE heed unto reading, exhortation, 
and doctrine. Think upon the 
things contained in this Book. Be dili- 
gent in them, that the increase coming 
thereby may be manifest unto all men. 
Take heed unto thyself, and to doctrine, 
and be diligent in doing them : for by 



1 so doing thou shalt both save thyself and 
them that hear thee. Be to the flock of 
I Christ a shepherd, not a wolf ; feed them, 
devoui' them not. Hold up the weak, 
heal the sick, bind up the broken, bring 
again the out-casts, seek the lost. Be 
so merciful, that you be not too remiss ; 
so minister discipline, that you forget 
not mercy ; that when the chief Shep- 
herd shall appear you may receive the 
never-fading crown of glory ; through 
Jesus Christ om- Lord. Amen. 

•|[ Then the Archbishop shall proceed in the 
Communion-Service; with whom the new 
j Consecrated Bishop (with others) shall also 
communiccde. 
^ And for the last Collect, immediately before 
the Benediction, shall be said these Prayers. 

MOST merciful Father, we beseech 
thee to send down upon this thy 
servant thy heavenly blessing ; and so 
endue him with thy holy Spirit, that he, 
preaching thy Word, may not only be 
earnest to reprove, beseech, and rebuke 
mth all patience and doctrine ; but also 
may be to such as believe a wholesome 
example in word, in conversation, in 
love, in faith, in chastity, and in pm^ty ; 
that, faithfully fulfilling his coui'se, at 
the latter day he may receive the crown 
of righteousness laid up by the Lord the 
righteous Judge, who liveth and reigneth 
one God with the Father and the Holy 
Ghost, world without end. Amen. 

PEEYENT us, Lord, in aU our 
doings, with thy most gracious 
favom', and fm-ther us with thy continual 
1 help ; that in all om* works begun, con- 
I tinned, and ended in thee, we may 
1 glorify thy holy Name, and finally by 
I thy mercy obtain everlasting life ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

THE peace of God, which passeth aU 
understanding, keep youi- hearts 
and minds in the Imowledge and love of 
God, and of his Son Jesus Christ om- 
Lord : And the blessing of God Al- 
! mighty, the Father, the Son, and the 
j Holy Ghost be amongst you, and remain 
i with you always. Amen. 




NOTE ON THE OEDINATION SERVICES, 

The office of miuistering before God, and teaching His \Yord, has in all ages been ret^arded as one 
of peculiar sanctity. A distinction between the clergy and laitv is clearly alluded to in the wi'itino-s 
ot the earliest Clinstian fathers. Imposition of hands and prayer formed the ordination service of 
the primitive times. The origin of several orders of clero-v may be traced to a locriod ennallv 

684 ■ ■ ■ 



NOTE ON THE OKDINATION SEKVICES. 



remote. Tertullian,_ alluding to the practice of heretics, says, " Witli them, one man is a bishop 
to-day, and another is their bishop to-morrow : he who to-day is a deacon becomes to-morrow a 
reader; and he who is a priest to-day, may in the same manner be to-morrow a layman." The 
same writer says, " Let them show the origin of their churches ; let them trace the succession of 
their bishops ; and thus connect the individual who first held the office, either vnth some apostle 
or some apostolic man, who always remained in communion with the Church. It is thus that the 
apostolic Churches show their origin. That of Smyrna traces its bishops in an unbroken line 
from Polycarp, who was placed there by St. John : that of Rome from Clemens, who was placed 
there by St. Peter : and every other Church can point out the individual to whom the superin- 
tendence of its doctrine and discipline was first committed by some one of the Apostles."' 

Allusions are made in several ancient autliors to the ceremonies gradually introduced into the 
ordination of the clergy. Thus it is said that, " When a bishop is ordained, two bishops shall hold 
the Boob of the Gospels over his head, and wliilst one pronounces the blessing, all the rest of the 
bishops that are present shall lay their hands upon his head." Part of one of the prayers used has 
also been handed down. This is, "Grant to him, O Lord Almighty, by thy Christ, the com- 
munication of the Holy Spirit that he may have power to remit sins according to thy command- 
ment, and to confer orders according to thy appointment, and to loose every bond according to the 
power which Thou gavest to the Apostles ; — that he may please thee in meekness and a pure heart, 
constantly blameless, and without rebuke ; — and mayotfer unto thee that pure, unbloody sacrifice 
which Thou by Christ hast appointed to be the mystery of the new covenant, for a sAveet-smelling 
savour, through Jesus Christ thy only Son, our God and Saviom-, by whom be glory, honour, and 
worship to Thee in the Holy Spirit, now and for ever." The bishop having been consecrated, was 
led to his chair, and received from his brethren the kiss of peace. He then delivered a discourse, 
called t!ie Sermo Enthronisticus ; and soon after his ordination he sent a letter to the bishops of 
other provinces of the Church, declaring his faith and communion. Several rules were instituted 
respecting the ordination of priests and deacons, some of which are still retained as liighly necessary 
to the proper government of the Church. Thus the candidates for orders were obliged to take an 
oath against simony — to subscribe the articles of faith — to prove the sufficiency of their learning, 
and their communion with the Church by baptism and a holy life. It was required also that they 
should have a distinct appointment to some Church, and that they should regard themselves as 
peculiarly subject to the bishop of the province. In the primitive times, no particular season was 
set apart for ordinations, nor was even Sunday the only day on which they took place ; but the 
hour of morning service appears to have been the only time of the day allowed for the purpose. 
Priests were ordained by bishops, but presbyters also placed their hands on their heads, and the 
kiss of peace was given as in the case of episcopal consecration. At the ordination of deacons 
the bishop alone placed his hands on the heads of the persons ordained, and they were not 
admitted to the performance of the higher mysteries of the Communion, or to give absolution. 

The Ordination Services of our Clmrch follow, as closely as possible, the example of the earliest 
with which we are acquainted. No practice is introduced for which there is not the authority of 
the apostolic times, and while they are grave and simple, they are equally impressive. It would 
be well if every person about to offer himself for the ministry were to make them his especial 
study, with earnest prayer ; and then to draw from them rules of self-examination, and laws for his 
future conduct. 




685 



PRAYER WITH THANKSGIVING: 

To he used ijearlij upon the Fifth day of November, 

For tbe happy deliverance of King JAIJUS 1. and the three Estates of ENG- 
LA^^JJ, from the most traiterous and bloody-intended Massacre hy Gun- 
powder : And also for the happy Anival of his Majesty King WILlLui on 
tiiis Day, lor the Deliverance of onr Church and Kation. 




The JL Ulster of every Parish shall give ivarning to his Farishoners puUioldij in the 
LhurrU at jLmuiirj Prayer, the Sunday hffnre. for the due Ohservatioa of the said 
nay. And after Mormng Prayer, or Prearh; n, I. „ :,oa tliesaidYimi Dav 0/ JsWm- 
h^i\ Shan read j^nihliddy, didincUy, and jJonJy, the Act of Parhament, made in 
tlie tinrd lear of King James the First, for the Observation of d. 

The Service shall he the same iviththe usual Office for Holy-days in cdl things: evcept 
idiere d is hereafter otherwise appointed. ' - i 

If this Day shall happen to he Sunday, only the Collect proper for that Sunday shall 
he added to this Office in its place. j- ^ ^ j - 



comiDassion, 
long-sufferins. 



^ Morning Prayer shall hegin ivith these 
Sentences. 

THE Lord is Ml of 
and mercy 
and of great goodness. Psal. ciii 

He will not alway be chiding : 
neither keepeth he his anger for 
ever. Ver. U. 

He hath not dealt with ns after 
our sins : nor rewarded us according 
to our wickedness. Ver. 10. 
686 



Instead 0/ Venite exultemus shall this 
Hymn folloicing he used; one Verse hy 
the Priest, and another hy the Clerl: and 
pjeople. 

GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for 
he is gracious : and his mercy 
endureth for ever. Psal. cvii. 1. 

Let thtm give thanhs, ichom the 
Lord hath redeemed : and delivered 
from the hand of ths enemy. Yer. 2. 

Many a time have they fought 







GUNPOWDEE TEEASON. 



against me from my yoiitli up : may 
Israel now say. Psal. cxxix. 1. 

Yea, many a time have they vexid me 
from my youth up : hut they have not 
prevailed against me. Yer, 2. 

They have privily laid their net to 
destroy me without a cause : yea, even 
without a cause have they made a pit for 
my soul. Psal. xxxv. 7. 

They have laid a net for my feet, and 
pressed down my soul : they have digged 
a pit before me, and are fallen into the 
midst of it themselves. Psal. Ivii. 7. 

Great is oui' Lord, and great is his 
power : yea, and his wisdom is infinite. 
Psal. cxlvii. 5. 

The Lord setteth up the meeh : and 
hringeth the ungodly down to the ground. 
Yer. 6. 

Let thy hand be upon the man of thy 
right hand : and upon the son of man 
whom thou mad est so strong for thine 
own self. Psal. Ixxx. 17. 

And so idll not we go had^ from thee : 
let us live, and we shall call upon 
thy Name. Yer. 18. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it teas in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall he : world icithout end. 
Amen. 

Proper Psalms. Ixiv, cxxiv, cxxv. 
Proper Lessons. 
The First, 2 Sam, xxii. 

Te Deurn. 
The Second, Acts xxiii. 
Juhilate. 

% Li tlie Suffrages after tlte Creed these sIlciU 
he inserted and used for tlie Queen. 

Priest. Lord, save the Queen ; 
People. Who putteth her trust in thee. 
Priest. Send her help from thy holy 
jDlace. 

Peopjle. And evermore mightily de- 
fend her. 

Priest. Let her enemies have no ad- 
vantage against her. 

People. Let not the wicked axDproach 
to hm't her. 

% Instead of the first Cotlect at Morning Prayer 
shall these tu:o he used. 

ALMIGHTY God, who hast in aU 
ages shewed thy Power and Mercy 
in the miraculous and gracious deliver- 
ances of thy Church, and in the protec- 
tion of righteous and religious Kings and 
687 



■ States professing thy holy and eternal 
: truth, from the wicked conspiracies, and 
I malicious practices of aU the enemies 
\ thereof: We yield thee our unfeigned 
thanks and praise, for the wonderful and 
mighty deliverance of our gTacious Sove- 
reign King James the First, the Queen, 
the Prince, and all the Eoyal Branches, 
with the Nobility, Clergy, and Commons 
of England, then assembled in Parlia- 
ment, by Popish treachery appointed as 
sheep to the slaughter, in a most bar- 
barous and savage manner, beyond the 
examples of former ages. From this 
unnatui^al Conspiracy, not our merit, but 
thy mercy ; not our foresight, but thy 
providence delivered us : And therefore 
not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but 
unto thy Name be ascribed all honom- 
and glory, in all Chui'ches of the saints, 
from generation to generation ; thi'ough 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

ACCEPT also, most gracious God, of 
our unfeigned thanks for filling 
om- hearts again with joy and gladness, 
after the time that thou hadst afflicted us,' 
and putting a new song into our mouths, 
I by bringing His Majesty King William, 
i upon this clay, for the Deliverance of 
our Church and Nation from Popish 
: Tyranny and arbitrary power. We adore 
the wisdom and justice of thy Providence, 
which so timely interposed in our ex- 
treme danger, and disappointed aU the 
I designs of our enemies. We beseech 
I thee, give us such a lively and lasting 
I sense of what thou didst then, and hast 
since that time done for us, that we may 
not gTow secm-e and careless in our obe- 
dience, by presuming upon thy gTeat and 
undeserved goodness ; but that it may 
lead us to repentance, and move us to be 
, the more diKgent and zealous in aU the 
I duties of our Eeligion, which thou hast 
i in a marvellous manner preserved to us. 

Let truth and justice, brotherly kindness 
i and charity, devotion and piety, concord 
I and unity, with aU other virtues, so 
I flom^ish among us, that they may be the 
I stabiEty of our times, and make this 
I Church a praise in the earth. AH which 
! we humbly beg for the sake of our 
I blessed Lord and Savioui-. Amen. 

' ^ In the end of the Litany {which shall ahcai/s 
thig Day he used) cfter the Colled [We 
liumbly beseech tliee, O Father, cC'c] shall 
this he said tchich fdloiceth. 



GUNPOWDER TREASON. 



A LMIGHTY God and lieavenly Fa- 
_t\_ tlier, wlio of thy gracious Provi- 
dence, and tender mercy towards us, 
didst prevent tlie malice and imagina- 
tions of our enemies, by discovering and 
confounding their horrible and wicked 
Enterprize, plotted and intended this 
day to have been executed against the 
King, and the whole State of England, 
for the subversion of the Government 
and Religion established among us ; and 
didst likewise upon this day wonderfully 
conduct thy servant King William, and 
bring him safely into England, to pre- 
serve us from the attempts of our enemies 
to bereave us of our Religion and Laws : 
We most humbly praise and magnify 
thy most glorious Name for thy unspeak- 
able goodness towards us, expressed in 
both these acts of thy mercy. We con- 
fess it has been of thy mercy alone, that 
we are not consumed : For our sins have 
cried to heaven against us ; and our 
iniquities justly called for vengeance 
upon us. But thou hast not dealt with 
us after our sins, nor rewarded us after 
our iniquities ; nor given us over, as we 
deserved, to be a prey to our enemies ; 
but hast in mercy delivered us from their 
malice, and preserved us from death and 
destruction. Let the consideration of 
this thy repeated goodness, O Lord, work 
in us true repentance, that iniquity may 
not be our ruin. And increase in us 
more and more a lively faith and love, 
fruitful in all holy obedience ; that thou 
mayest still continue thy favour, with 
the light of thy Gospel, to us and our 
posterity for evermore ; and that for thy 
dear Son's sake, Jesus Christ our only 
Mediator and Advocate. Amen. 

t Instead of the Prayer [In time of War and 
Tumults] shall he used this Frayer following. 

OLORD, who didst this day discover 
the snares of death that were laid 
for us, and didst wonderfully deliver us 
from the same ; Be thou still our mighty 
Protector, and scatter our enemies that 
delight in blood : Infatuate and defeat 
their counsels, abate their pride, asswage 
their malice, and confound their devices. 
Strengthen the hands of our gracious 
Sovereign Queen VICTOBIA, and all 
that are put in authority under her, with 
judgement and justice to cut o£f all such 
workers of iniquity, as turn Religion into 
Rebellion, and Faith into Faction ; that 
688 



they may never prevail against us, or 
triumph in the ruin of thy Church among 
us : but that our gracious Sovereign, and 
her Realms, being preserved in thy true 
Religion, and by thy merciful goodness 
protected in the same, we may all duly 
serve thee, and give thee thanks in thy 
holy congregation ; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. 

^ In the Communion Service, instead of the 
Collect for the Day, shall this which follotveth 
he used. 

ETERNAL God, and our most mighty 
Protector, we thy unworthy ser- 
vants do humbly present ourselves before 
thy Majesty, acknowledging thy power, 
wisdom, and goodness, in preserving the 
King, and the Three Estates of the 
Realm of England assembled in Par- 
liament, from the destruction this day 
intended against them. Make us, we 
beseech thee, truly thankful for this,' and 
for all other thy great mercies towards 
us;^ particularly for making this day 
again memorable, by a fresh instance 
of thy loving-kindness towards us. We, 
bless thee for giving his late Majesty! 
King William a safe arrival here, and '\ 
for making all opposition fall before him, ; 
till he became our King and Governour. 
We beseech thee to protect and defend 
our Sovereign Queen VICTOBIA, and 
all the Royal Family, from all treasons 
and conspiracies ; Preserve her in thy 
faith, fear, and love ; Prosper her Reign 
with long happiness here on earth ; and 
crown her with everlasting glory here- 
after ; through Jesus Christ our only 
Saviour and Redeemer. A7nen. 

The Epistle. Horn. xiii. 1. 

LET every soul be subject unto the 
higher powers ; for there is no 
power, but of God : the powers that be 
are ordained of God. Whosoever there- 
fore resisteth the power resisteth the 
ordinance of God ; and they that resist 
shall receive to themselves damnation. 
For rulers are not a terror to good works, 
but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be 
afraid of the power ? do that which is 
good, and thou shalt have praise of the 
same : for he is the minister of God to 
thee for good. But if thou do that which 
is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the 
sword in vain : for he is the minister of 
God, a revenger to execute wrath upon 



GUNPOWDER TREASON. 



him that cloeth evil. Wlierefore ye must 
needs be subject, not only for T^Tath, but 
also for conscience' sake. For for this 
cause pay ye tribute also ; for they are 
God's ministers, attending continually 
upon this very thing. Render therefore 
to all their dues ; tribute to whom tribute 
is due, custom to whom custom, fear to 
whom fear, honoiu' to whom honour. 

Tlie GosTjeL St. Luke ix. 51. 

AND it came to piass, when the time 
was come that he should be re- 
ceived up, he stedfastly set his face to 
go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers 
before his face ; and they went and 
entered into a village of the Samaritans, 
to make ready for him : And they did 
not receive him, because his face was as 
though he would go to Jerusalem. And 
when his disciples James and John saw 
this, they said. Lord, wilt thou that we 
command &e to come down from heaven, 
and consume them, even as Elias did ? 
But he turned and rebuked them, and 
said, Ye know not what manner of spirit 
ye are of : For the Son of man is not 
come to destroy men's lives, but to 
save them. And they went to another 
village. 

^ After tlie Creed, if there be 'no Sermon, shcdl 
he read one of the six Homilies against Be- 
hellion. 



^ This sentence is to he read at tlie Offertory. 

WHATSOEVER ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so 
to them ; for this is the Law and the 
I Prophets. St Matth. vii. 12. 

t After the Prayer for the Church militant this 
folloicinrj Prayer is to he used. 

OGOD, whose Name is excellent in 
all the earth, and thy glory above 
the heavens ; who on this day didst mi- 
raculously preserve oui' Chm*ch and State 
from the secret contrivance and hellish 
malice of Popish conspirators ; and on 
this day also didst begin to give us a 
mighty deliverance from the open tyranny 
and oppression of the same cruel and 
blood-thirsty enemies : We bless and 
adore thy glorious Majesty, as for the 
former, so for this thy late marvellous 
loving-kindness to our Church and Nation 
in the preservation of our Religion and 
Liberties. And we humbly pray, that 
the devout sense of this thy repeated 
mercy may renew and increase in us a 
sj)irit of love and thankfulness to thee its 
only Author ; a spirit of peaceable sub- 
mission and obedience to our gracious 
Sovereign Lady, Queen VICTOFJA ; 
and a spirit of fervent zeal for om^ holy 
Religion which thou hast so wonderfully 
rescued, and established, a blessing to 
us and our posterity. And this we beg 
for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen. 



NOTE. 

Ax event so important as the deliverance of the nation from a conspiracy which was intended to 
destroy both its religion and its liberties, is not likely to pass from men's^ memories ; and if it be 
remembered,_ it ought sm-ely to excite an unfailing gratitude, and a disposition ever ready to set 
forth the praises of that wise and merciful Providem-e to which we owe our safet}'. The estahlLsh- 
rnent of the national liberties under William III., who ariived on the same day of the year as that 
on which the j)lot was discovered, ajipeared to the heads of the Chm'ch as an event which might 
properly be commemorated with the discovery of the conspii-acy. Some few alterations were 
accordingly made to suit the service to this twofold object. The rubric, " Instead of Venite," &c., 
and the following sentences, were added in the second year of William and Mary. At the same 
time the prayer beginning " Accept also, most gTacious God, &c.," was inserted, and that beginning 
" Almighty God and heavenly Father,'' (fcc, received several alterations. A clause was also added 
to the collect used at the Communion Service, "Make us, we beseech thee, truly thankful for this, 
and for all others thy gi'eat mercies towards us," &c., and the prayer to be used after that for the 
Church Militant was altogether new. Some alteration was likewise made as to the portions of 
Scriprtire read. The 35th Psalm was at first appointed ; but in the revisal of the Office at the 
Pievolution this was disused, and the 12.5tli was selected instead of the 129th. The present 
Gospel was also tirst inserted at this alteration of the service, that before read being Matth. xxvii. 
1 — 10. '■ Be it therefore enacted," says the Act passed in reference to this Service, " by the King's 
most excellent 3Iajesty, the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the Commons, in this present Par- 
liament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that all and singular ministers in every 
cathedral and parish church, or other usual places for Common Prayer within this realm, and 
the dominions of the same, shall always upon the fifth day of Noveml3er say Morning Prayer, and 
give unto Almighty God thanks for this most happy deliverance : and that all and every person 
and persons, inhabiting within this realm of England, and dominions of the same, shall always 
upon that day diligently and faithfiiUy resort to the parish-chmch, or chapel, accustomed, or to 
some usual church or chapel, where the said morning jDreachuig, or other service of God shall be 
u.sed, and then and there to abide orderly and soberly during the time of the same prayers, preach- 
ing, or other service of God, there to be'used or administered. And because all and eveiw person 

689 4 T 



A FORM OF PRAYER WITH FASTING, 



To he 2ised yearly on the Thirtieth of January, 

Being the Day of the Martyrdom of the Blessed King Charles the First ; to implore the 
inercy cf God, that neither the Gnilt of that sacred and innocent Blood, nor those other 
sins, by which God was provoked to deliver np both its and our King into the hands 
of cruel and unreasonable men, may at any time hereafter be visited upon us or our 
posterity. 



t If this Bay shall happen to he Sunday, this Form of Praijer shall he used and the Fast kept the 
next Da]j folloimng. And upon the Lord's Day next hefore tlie Bay to he Icept, at Morning 
Prayer, immediately after the Nicene Creed, notice shall he given for the due ohservation of the 
said Bay. 

1 The Service of the Bay shall he the same xvith the usual Office for Holy-days in all things ; except 
ivhere it is in this Office otherwise appointed. 

THE OEDER FOE MOENING PEAYEE. 



^ He that ministereth shall hegin with one or 
more of these Sentences. 

TO the Lord our God belong mercies 
and forgivenesses, though we have 
rebelled against him : neither have we 
obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, 
to walk in his laws which he set before 
us. Ban. ix. 9, 10. 

Correct us, O Lord, but with judge- 
ment : not in thine anger, lest thou bring 
us to nothing. Jer. x. 24. 

Enter not into judgement with thy ser- 
vants, O Lord : for in thy sight shall no 
man living be justified. Psal. cxliii. 2. 

1 Jwsfefl(?o/ Veniteextdtemus the Hymn foUoiv- 
ing shall he said or sung ; one Verse hy the 
Priest, another hy the Clerh and people. 

EIGHTEpUS art thou, O Lord : 
and just are thy judgements ! 
Fsal. cxix. 137. 

Thou art just, Lord, in all that is 
brought ui^on us : for thou hast done 
right, hut ive have done wicJcedly. Neh. 
ix. 33. 

Nevertheless, our feet were almost 
gone : our treadings had well-nigh 
slipped. Psal. Ixxiii. 2. 

For why f ive luere grieved at the 
loiched : we did also see the ungodly in 
such prosperity. Ver. 3. 



The people stood up, and the rulers 
took counsel together against the Lord, 
and against his Anointed; Psal. ii. 2. 

They cast their heads together ivith one 
consent : and were confederate against 
him. Psal. Ixxxiii. 5. 

He heard the blasphemy of the mul- 
titude, and fear was on every side : while 
they conspired together against him, to 
take away his life. Psal. xxxi. 15. 

They spoke against him with false 
tongues, and compassed him about ivith 
words of hatred : and foiight against Mm 
without a cause. Psal. cix. 2. 

Yea, his own familiar friends, whom 
he trusted : they that eat of his bread 
laid great wait for him. Psal. xli. 9. 

Tliey rewarded him evil for good : to 
the great discomfort of his soul. Psal. 
XXXV. 12. 

They took their counsel together, 
saying, God hath forsaken him : perse- 
cute him, and take him, for there is none 
to deliver him. Psal. Ixxi. 9. 

The hreath of our nostrils, the Anointed 
of the Lord was taken in their pits : of 
ivhom we said. Under his shadow we shall 
he safe. Lam. iv. 20. 

The adversary and the enemy entered 
into the gates of Jerusalem : saying, 



may be put in mind of his duty, and be then better prepared to the said holy service, be it enacted 
by the authority aforesaid, that every minister sliall give warning to his parishioners publicly, in 
the church at Morning Prayer, the Sunday before every such fifth day of November, for the due 
observation of the same day : and tliat after Morning Prayer, or preaching, upon the same fifth 
day of November, they read publicly, distinctly, and plainly, this present Act." Thoughtful and 
devout mmdswill not fail to employ days like this in meditating on the goodness of God, mani- 
fested so remarkably in the various deliverances of His Church. They will strive in all ways to 
glorify His mercy, and this they will do without failing to recollect the great law of charity taught 
tliem by Jesus Clarist. Let prayer and contemplation occupy the heart, and it will bring forth 
tlie genuine fruits of righteousness, a pure faith and gentle and placable dispositions. 
690 



Kim CHAELES THE MAETYE. 



When shall he die, and his name perish ? 
Ver. 12. Psal. xli. 5. 

Let the sentence of guiltiness proceed 
against Mm : and now that he Ueth, let 
him rise up no more. Yer. 8. 

False witnesses also did rise up against 
him : they laid to his charge things that 
he knew not. Psal. xxxv. 11. 

For the sins of the people and the 
iniquities of the priests : they shed the \ 
hlood of the just in the midst of Jeru- \ 
salem. Lam.iv. 13. 

O my soul, come not thou into their 
secret ; unto their assembly, mine 
honour, be not thou united : for in their 
anger they slew a man. Gen. xlix. 6. 

Even the man of thy right hand : the 
Son of man, ivhom thou hast made so 
strong for thine own self. Psal. Ixxx. 17. 

In the sight of the unwise he seemed 
to die : and his departure was taken for 
misery. Wisd. iii. 2. 

They fools counted his life madness, 
and his end to he without honour : hut he 
is in peace. Wisd. v. 4, & iii. 3. 

For though he was punished in the 
sight of men : yet was his hope full of 
immortality. Wisd. iii. 4. 

How is he numbered ivith the children 
of God : and his lot is among the saints ! 
Wisd. V. 5. 

But, Lord God, to whom vengeance 
belongeth, thou God, to whom vengeance 
belongeth : be favoui'able and gracious 
unto Sion. Psal. xciv. 1. & li. 18. 

Be merciful, Lord, unto thy people, 
whom thou hast redeemed : and lay not 
innocent hlood to our charge. Deut. xxi. 8. 

shut not up our souls with sinners : 
nor our lives with the blood-thirsty. 
Psal. XX vi. 9. 

Deliver us from hlood-guiltiness, 
God, thou that art the God of our salva- 
tion : and our tongues shall sing of thy 
righteousness. Psal. li. 14. 

For thou art the God that hast no 
pleasure in wickedness : neither shall I 
any evil dwell with thee. Psal. v. 4. 

Thou wilt destroy them that speah 
leasing : the Lord ahhors hath the Mood- 
thirsty and deceitful man. Yer. 6. 

O how suddenly do they consume : 
perish, and come to a fearful end ! Pscd. 
Ixxiii. 18. 

Tea, even liJce as a dream, lohen one 
awaketh : so didst thou make their image 
to vanish out of the city. Yer. 19. 

Great and marvellous are thy works, I 
691 



Lord God Almighty : just and true are 
thy ways, O King of saints. Bev. xv. 3, 

Bighteous art thou Lord : and just 
are thy judgements. Psal. cxix. 137. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the holy Ghost ; 

As it icas in the heginning, is now, 
and ever shcdl he : world without end. 
Amen. 

Proper Psalms, ix, x, xi. 
Proper Lessons. 
The First, 2 Sam. i. 
Tlie Second, St. Matth. xxvii. 

% Lisfead of the first Collect at Mtrninq Prayer 
shall these tivo which next follow he used. 

OMOST mighty God, terrible in thy 
judgements, and wonderful in thy 
doings toward the children of men ; who 
in thy heavy displeasure didst suffer the 
life of our gracious Sovereign King 
Charles the First, to be (as this day) 
taken away by the hands of cruel and 
bloody men : We thy sinful creatures 
here assembled before thee, do, in the 
behalf of all the people of this land, 
humbly confess, that they were the 
crying sins of this Nation, which brought 
down this heavy judgement upon us. 
But, gracious God, when thou makest 
inquisition for blood, lay not the guilt 
of this innocent blood (the shedding 
whereof nothing but the blood of thy 
Son can expiate), lay it not to the charge 
of the people of this land ; nor let it 
ever be required of us, or om^ posterity. 
Be merciful, Lord, be merciful unto 
thy people, whom thou hast redeemed ; 
and be not angry with us for ever : But 
pardon us for thy mercies' sake through 
the merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

BLESSED Lord, in whose sight the 
death of thy saints is precious ; We 
magnify thy Name for thine abundant 
grace bestowed upon our martyred 
Sovereign ; by which he was enabled 
so cheerfully to follow the ste23S of his 
blessed Master and Saviour, in a con- 
stant meek sufferiiig of all barbarous 
indignities, and at last resisting unto 
blood, and even then, according to the 
same pattern, praying for his murderers. 
Let his memory, Lord, be ever blessed 
among us ; that we may follow the 
example of his courage and constancy, 
his meekness and patience, and great 



KING CHAELES THE MAETYR. 



cbaritj. And grant tliat tliis our land 
niay be freed from the vengeance of his 
righteous blood, and thy mercy glorified 
in the forgiveness of our sins : and all 
for Jesus Christ his sake, om- only Medi- 
ator and Advocate. Amen. 

t In the end of the Litany (which shall always 
on this Day he used) immediately after the 
Collect [We luimbly beseech thee, "Father, 
&C.'] Jhe three Collects next foUoiving are to 
he read. 

OLOED, we beseech thee mercifully 
hear our j^rayers, and spare all 
those who confess their sins unto thee ; 
that they whose consciences by sin are 
accused, by thy merciful j^ardon may 
be absolved ; through Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

OMOST mighty God, and merciful 
Father, who hast compassion upon 
all men, and hatest nothing that thou 
hast made ; who wouldest not the death 
of a sinner, but that he should rather 
turn from his sin, and be saved : Merci- 
fully forgive us our trespasses ; receive 
and comfort us, who are grieved and 
wearied with the burden of om- sins. 
Thy property is always to have mercy ; 
to thee only it appertaineth to forgive 
sins. Spare us therefore, good Lord, 
spare thy people, whom thou hast re- 
deemed ; enter not into judgement with 
thy servants, who are vile earth and 
miserable sinners : but so turn thine 
anger from us who meekly acknowledge 
our vileness, and truly repent us of om- 
faults ; and so make haste to help us in 
this world, that we may ever live with 
thee in the world to "^come ; through 
Jesus Christ oui- Lord. Amen. 

TUEN thou us, O good Lord, and so 
shall we be turned. Be favom-able, 
O Lord, be favourable to thy people. 
Who turn to thee in weeping, fasting, 
and praying. For thou art a merciful 
God, Full of compassion, Long-suffering, 
and of gi-eat pity. Thou sparest when 
we deserve punishment. And in thy 
wrath thinkest upon mercy. Spare thy 
people, good Lord, spare them, And let 
not thine heritage be brought to confu- 
sion. Hear us, O Lord, for thy mercy 
is great, And after the multitude of thy 
mercies look upon us. Through the 
merits and mediation of thy blessed Son 
Jesus Christ om- Lord. Amen 
692 



^ In the Communion Service, after the Prayer 
for the Queen [Almighty God, whose king- 
dom is everiastiug, &c.'\ instead of the Collect 
for the Bay shall these tioo he used. 

Omost mighty God, &c.\As in the Morn- 
Blessed Lord, d-c. j ing Prayers. 

TJie Epistle. 1 St. Pet. ii. 13. 

SUBMIT yom-selves to every ordi- 
nance of man for the Lord's sake ; 
whether it be to the King, as supreme ; 
or unto governours, as unto them that are 
sent by him, for the punishment of evil- 
doers, and for the praise of them that 
do well. For so is the will of God, that 
with well-doing ye may put to silence 
the ignorance of foolish men : as free, 
and not using your liberty for a cloke 
of maliciousness, but as the servants of 
God. Honom^ all men. Love the brother- 
hood. Fear God. Honom- the King. 
Servants, be subject to your masters 
with all fear, not only to the good and 
gentle, but also to the froward. For this 
is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience 
toward God endm-e grief, suffering 
wrongfully. For what gloj-y is it, if when 
ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall 
take it patiently ? but if when ye do well, 
and suffer for it, ye take it patiently : this 
is acceptable with God. For even here- 
unto were ye called : because Christ also 
suffered for us, leaving us an examj)le, that 
ye should follow his steps ; who did no 
sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. 

The Gospel. St. Matth. xxi. 33. 

THEEE was a certain householder 
which planted a vineyard, and 
hedged it round about, and digged a 
wine-jDress in it, and built a tower, and 
let it out to husbandmen, and went into 
a far country. And when the time of 
the fruit drew near, he sent his servants 
to the husbandmen, that they might 
receive the fruits of it. And the husband- 
men took his servants, and beat one, 
and killed another, and stoned another. 
Again he sent other servants, more than 
the first, and they did unto them like- 
wise. But last of all he sent unto them 
his son, saying. They will reverence my 
son. But when the husbandmen saw the 
son, they said among themselves. This 
is the heir, come let us kill him, and let 
us seize on his inheritance. And they 
caught him, and cast him out of the 
vineyard, and slew him. When the lord 
therefore of the vineyard cometh, what 



KIXG CHAELES THE MAETYE. 



will he do iinto tlio-e Inisbanclmen ? 
They say nnto liim. Hl- ^^lU miserably 
desia-oy tli'^se wicked men. and will let 
ont his yineyard imt.> other hnsbandmen, 
whicli shall render liim tlie fruits in 
their seasons. 

Arre ■ fne Xicene Creed, shiJl he read, imfead 
of the Sermon f: I ~ ' /' ' ~'-r>^ '1 
second parts of ' 7 
obedience and ' '- J 

Avtliority : L r ' M' - >haU 
preacJi a Serin. / . , , - upon 

the same argument. 

^ In the Onertory shciJl tids Sentence le read. 

TT^HATSOETEE ye would that men 
\ V should do imto yon. even so do 

imto them : for this is the Eaw and the 

Prophets. ^ St. JIatth. yii. 12. 

*i After the Prayer [For the whole state of 
Christ's Chuicli, d:c-.] these two Collects fol- 
loicing shall he used. 

OLOED, our heavenly Father, who 
(Edst not ptmish iis as otu' sins 
have deserved, hut hast in the midst of 
judgement remembered mercy ; e ac- 
knowledge it thine especial favoiu\. that, 
though for om' many an^l great j^rovu- 
cations, thou didst siili\-r thine anointed 
blessed Eing Cliarles the EEst (as on 
this day) to fall into the hands of violent 
and blood-thirsty men. and barbarously 
to be murdered by them, yet thou di'ist 



not leave us for ever, as sheep ydthout a 
shephenl : but by thy gracious provi- 
dence diil-t iiiir:M_'iiL Mi-ly jjreserve the im- 
doubtL d Heir i 'i hi- Crowns, our then gi-a- 
cioiis Sovereign Eing (JiarJes the Second, 
from his bloody enemies, hicEng him 
under the shadow of thy wings, imtil their 
tyranny was overpast ; and cEdst bring 
him Ijack. in thy good appointed time to 
sit tip on the thi^one of his Eather ; and 
together with the Eoyal Family didst 
restore to its our ancient Government 
in Church and State. Eor these thy 
great and unspeakable mercies we render 
to thee oiu' most humble and imfeigned 
thanks : beseeching thee stiE to con- 
tinue thy graciijus protection over the 
whole Euyal Family, and to grant to our 
gTacious Sovereign Queen VICT OBI A, 
a long and happy Eeign over us : ~ So 
we that are thy people wiE give thee 
thanks fur ever, and wiE always be 
sheT\-ing f ^rth thy praise from generation 
to gt-ncratir-n ; through Jesus Christ 
our Eurd and Saviom\ Amen. 

iXD grant; Lord, we beseech thee, 
that the cuur^o of this world may 
be so 2-"^aceably ordtuVLl by thy govern- 
ance, that thy Church may jry-fully serve 
thee in aE godly cpiietness tki-ough 
Jesus Christ our Eord. Amen. 



THE OEDEE FOE 

^ Ttie Hymn ar ' ' " ' he u-^ed of llondng 
Prayer insi' ./'te txuliemus slxiU 

here alio he . ' . '''.e I'r'jj^.'tv I'scdins. 

Eighteous art thou. Lord, Ac. 

Proper FsaJms. Ixxix, xciv, Ixxxv. 

T roper Lessons. 

Tlie Firs^, Jer. xii. or Dan. ix. to v, 22. 

TTie Secon.'L Hebr. xi. ver. 32. 
and 12 to ver. 7. 

% Instead of the First Cod'^cfat Evening Prayer 
shod these tico ichich next folhv: he us'^d. 

ALMIGHTY Lord God, who by 
thy wisdom not only guidest and 
orderest aE things most suitably to thine 
own justice : but also peilbrmest thy 
pleasure in such a manner, that wc can- 
not but acknowledge thee to be rigliteous 
in aE thy ways, and holy in aE thy 
works : We thv sinful people do here 
693^ 



:yexixg peayee. 

fall down before thee, confessing that 
thy judgements were right in permitting 
cruel men, sons of Belial, ( as on this 
day.) to imbrue their han^ls in the blood 
of thine Anointed; we having drawn 
down the same upon ourselves, by the 
great and long provocations of our sins 
against thee. For which we do therefore 
here humlile ourselves before thee ; be- 
seeching thee to deliver this Nation from 
blood-guiltiness ( that of this day espe- 
cially ). and to tiun from us and our pos- 
terity aE those judgements which we by 
oui' sins have worthily deserved : Grant 
this for the all-sufficient merits of thy 
Son oiu' Savioui' Jesus Christ. Araen. 

BLESSED God. just and powerful, 
Avho didst permit thy dear Servant, 
oiu' E-ead Sovereign Eing Charles the 
First to be (^as upon this day) given up 



KING CHAELES THE MAKTYK, 



to the violent outrages of mcked men, 
to be clespiteMly used, and at tlie last 
miu-dered by them : Though we cannot 
reflect upon so foul an act, but with 
horror and astonishment ; yet do we most 
gratefully commemorate the glories of 
thy grace, which then shined forth in 
thine Anointed ; whom thou wast pleased, 
even at the hour of death, to endue with 
an eminent measure of exemplary pa- 
tience, meekness, and charity, before the 
face of his cruel enemies. And albeit 
thou didst suffer them to proceed to such 
an height of violence, as to kill him, 
and to take possession of his Throne ; 
yet didst thou in great mercy preserve 
his Son, whose right it was, and at 
length by a wonderful providence bring 
him back, and set him thereon, to restore 
thy true Religion, and to settle peace 
amongst us : For these thy great mercies 
we glorify thy Name, through Jesus 
Christ our blessed Saviour. Amen. 

% Immediately after the Collect [Lighten onr 
darkness, &c.'] shall these three next following 
be used. 

O Lord, we beseech, dc. \ As before at 
O most mighty God, dc. I Morning 
Turn thou us, dc. J Prayer. 



^ Immediately before the Prayer of Saint Cliiy- 
sostom shall this Collect lohich next followeth 
be used. 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, 
whose righteousness is like the 
strong mountains, and thy judgements 
like the great deep ; and who, by that 
barbarous murder (as on this day) com- 
mitted upon the sacred Person of thine 
Anointed, has taught us that neither the 
greatest of Kings, nor the best of men, 
are more secure from violence than from 
natural death : Teach us also hereby so 
to number our days, that we may apply 
our hearts unto wisdom. And grant 
that neither the splendor of anything 
that is great, nor the conceit of anything 
that is good in us, may withdi'aw our 
eyes from looking upon ourselves as 
sinful dust and ashes ; but that accord- 
ing to the example of this thy blessed 
Martyr, we may press forward to the prize 
of the high calling that is before us, in 
faith and patience, humility and meek- 
ness, mortification and self-denial, 
charity and constant perseverance unto 
the end : And all this for thy Son om- 
Lord Jesus Christ his sake ; to whom with 
thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour 
and glory, world without end. Amen. 



NOTE. 

It is useful for a nation to recollect calamities into which it may have been precipitated by a blind 
and furious zeal. Humiliation leads to caution ; and the counsels of a people are far more likely 
to be both wise and just, and not requiring an after repentance, when under the influence of ex- 
perience. The present Office was compiled in consequence of an Act of Parliament passed in the 
twelfth year of Charles II., by which it was ordered, " That every thirtieth of January, unless it 
talis out to be upon the Lord's day, and then the next day following, shall be for ever hereafter set 
apart to be kept and observed in all the churches and chapels" of the kingdom, " as an anniversary 
day of fasting and hmniliation, to implore the mercy of God, that neither the guilt of that sacred 
and innocent blood, nor those other sins by which God was provoked to deliver up both us and 
our King into the hands of um-easonable men, may at any time hereafter be visited on us or our 
posterity." Several alterations were made in the service in the reign of James II. The hymn at the 
beginning was inserted instead of the 95th psalm, and the psalms for the evening were changed, 
the 38th, 64th, and 143rd, being those formerly selected. The 85th was chosen in reference to 
the Eestoration. It is recorded, as an interesting circumstance, that when Bishop Juxon, who 
attended the King in his last moments, read the second lesson, as ordinarily appointed for the 
thirtieth of January, the afflicted monarch inquired whether he had not chosen it for him, as 
particularly applicable to the circumstances in wliich he was placed. On the Bishop's replying 
that it happened to be the proper lesson for the day, Charles was greatly affected, and expressed 
himself as deriving much comfort from being so led, in the hour of trial, to the contemplation of 
liLs Saviour's sufferings. The service is solemn and pathetic, and independently of the particular 
event to which it refers, is well adapted to foster a spirit of sober and religious loyalty— the best 
safeguard of a nation's happiness. It deserves, however, to be remarked, that none of the services 
placed m this pait of the Liturgy have received the stamp of authority from Parliament ; the 
observation of the days having been appointed, but the Offices being inserted in the Prayer Book 
by the sole authority of the Sovereign. 



694 



A FOEM OF PRAYER WITH THANKSGIVING 



TO ALMIGHTY GOD, 

For having put an end to the Great Rebellion, by the Restitution of the King and Royal 
Family, find the Restoration of the Government after many years' interruption ; which 
unspeakable Mercies were wonderfully completed upon the Twenty-ninth of May, in 
the Year 1660. And in. Memory thereof that Day in every Year is by Act of Parlia- 
ment appointed to be for ever kept holy. 



t The Act of Parliament made in the Twelfth, and confirmed in the Thirteenth Year of King 
Charles the Second, for the observation of the Twenty-ninth Day of May yearly, as a Day of 
PuMck Thanksgiving, is to he read puUicMy in all Churches at Morning Prayer, immediately 
after the Mcene Creed, on the Lord's Day next before every such Twenty-ninth of May, and 
notice to be given for the due Observation of the said 'Day. 

*\ The Service shall be the same ivith the usual Office for Holy-days ; except lohere it is in this Office 
otherwise appoiyited. 

^ If this Day shall happen to be Ascension-day, or Whit-sunday, the Collects of this Office are to 
be added to the Offices of those Festivals in their proper -places : If it be Monday or Tuesday in 
Whitsun-week or Trinity-sunday, the proper Psalms appointed for this Day, instead of those 
of ordinary Course, shall be also used, and the Collects added as before ; and in all these cases 
the rest of this Office shall be omitted : But if it shall happen to be any other Sunday, this whole 
Office shall be used, as it followeth entirely. And ivhat Festival soever shall happen to fall upon 
this solemn Day of Thanksgiving, the following Hymn, appointed instead o/Venite exultemus, 
shall be constantly used. 



^ Morning Prayer shall begin with these Sen- 
tences. 

TO the Lord our God belong mercies 
and forgiveness, though we have 
rebelled against him : neither have we 
obeyed the voice of the Lord bm God, 
to walk in his laws which he set before 
us. Dan. ix. 9, 10. 

It is of the Lord's mercies that we 
were not consumed : because his com- 
passions fail not. Lam. iii. 22. 

Instead of Venite exultemus shall be sung or 
said this Hymn folloioing ; one verse by the 
Priest and another by the Clerk and people. 

MY song shall be alway of the loving- 
kinclness of the Lord : with my 
mouth will I ever be shewing forth his 
truth from one generation to another. 
Fsal. Ixxxix. 1 . 

The merciful and gracious Lord hath 
so done his marvellous wofhs : that they 
ought to he had in rememhrance. Psal. 
cxi. 4. 

Who can express the noble acts of 
the Lord : or shew forth all his praise ? 
Psal. cvi. 2. 

The works of the Lord are great : 
sought out of all them that have^ pleasure 
therein. Psal. cxi. 2. 
695 



The Lord setteth up the meek : and 
bringeth the ungodly down to the 
ground. Psal. cxlvii. 6. 

The Lo7'd executeth righteousness and 
judgement : for all them that are op- 
pressed with lurong. Psal. ciii. 6. 

For he will not alway be chiding : 
neither keepeth he his anger for ever. 
Ver. 9. 

He hath not decdt idth us after our 
sins : nor rewarded us according to our 
wickedness, Ver. 10. 

For look how high the heaven is in 
comparison of the earth : so great is 
his mercy toward them that fear him, 
Ver. 11. 

Yea, like as a father pitieth his oimi 
children : even so is tlie Lord merciftd 
unto them that fear him. Ver. 13. 

Thou, God, hast proved us : thou 
also hast tried us, even as silver is tried. 
Psal. Ixvi. 9. 

Thou suffer edst men to ride over our 
heads, ice went through fire and water : 
hut thou hast hrought iis out into a 
wealthy place. Ver. 11. 

how great troubles and adversities 
hast thou shewed us ! and yet didst thou 
tm-n and refresh us : yea, and broughtest 
us from the deep of the earth again. 
Psal. Ixxi. 18. 



THE EESTOKATION OF THE EOYAL FAMILY. 



Thou didst rememher us in our low 
estate, and redeemed us from our enemies : 
for thy mercy endnreth for ever. Psal. 
cxxxvi. 23, 24. 

Lord, thou art become gracious unto 
tliy land : tliou hast turned away the 
captivity of Jacob. Fsal. Ixxxv. 1. 

God hath shelved us his goodness plen- 
teously : and God hath let us see our 
desire upon our enemies. Psal. lix. 10. 

They are brought down and fallen : 
but we are risen and stand upright. 
Psal. XX. 8. 

There are they fallen, all that loorh 
ivichedness : they are cast doivn, and 
shall not he able to stand. Psal. xxxvi. 
12. 

The Lord hath been mindful of us, 
and he shall bless us : even he shall 
bless the house of Israel, he shall bless 
the house of Aaron. Psal. cxv. 12. 

He shall bless them that fear the Lord : 
both small and great. Ver. 13. 

that men would therefore praise the 
Lord for his goodness : and declare the 
wonders that he doeth for the children 
of men ! Psal. cvii. 21. 

That they ivould offer unto him the 
sacrifice of thanksgiving : and tell out 
his luorhs with gladness I Ver. 22. 

And not hide them from the children 
of the generations to come : but shew 
the honour of the Lord, his mighty and 
wonderful works that he hath done ! 
Psal. Ixxviii. 4. 

That our posterity may also know 
them, and the children that are yet 
unborn : and not be as their forefathers 
a faithless and stubborn generation. 
Ver. 6, 9. 

Give thanks, Israel, unto God the 
Lord in the congregations : from the 
ground of the heart. Psa/. Ixviii. 26. 
- Praised be the Lord daily : even the 
God who helpeth us, and poureth his 
benefits upon us. Ver. 19. 

O let the wickedness of the wicked 
come to an end : but establish thou the 
righteous. Psal. vii. 9. 

Let all those that seek thee be joyful 
and glad in thee : and let all such as 
love thy salvation say alway, The Lord 
be praised. Psal. xl. 19. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be : imrld without end. 
Amen. 



Proper Psalms, cxxiv, cxxvi, 
cxxix, cxviii. 

Proper Lessons. 
The First, 2 Sam. xix. ver 9, or 
Numb. xvi. 

Te Deum. 
The Second, The Epistle of St. Jude. 
Jubilate Deo. 

1 The Suffrages next after the Creed shall stand 
thus. 

Priest. O Lord, shew they mercy, 
upon us. 

Answer. And grant us thy salvation. 
Priest. Lord, save the Queen. 
Answer. Who pidteth her trust in 
thee. 

Priest. Send her help from thy holy 
place. 

Answer. And evermore mightily de- 
fend her. 

Priest. Let her enemies have no 
advantage against her. 

Answer. Let not the wicked approach 
to hurt her. 

Priest. Endue thy Ministers with 
righteousness. 

Answer. Aiid make thy chosen people 
joyful. 

Priest. Give peace in our time, 
Lord. 

Answer. Because there is none other 
that Ughteth for us, but only thou, 
God. " 

Priest. Be unto us, Lord, a strong 
tower. 

Answer. From the face of our enemies. 
Priest. Lord hear our prayers. 
Answer. And let our cry come unto 
thee. 

^ Instead of the first Collect at Morning Prayer 
shall these two which follow he used. 

ALMIGHTY God, who art a strong 
tower of defence unto thy servants 
against the face of their enemies ; We 
yield thee praise and thanksgiving for 
the wonderful deliverance of these King- 
doms from THE GREAT REBEL- 
LION, and all the Miseries and Oppres- 
sions consequent thereupon, under which 
they had so long groaned. We acknow- 
ledge it thy goodness, that we were not 
utterly delivered over as a prey imto 
them ; beseeching thee still to continue 
such thy mercies towards us, that all 
the world may know that thou art our 
Saviour and mighty Deliverer ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



696 



THE EESTOEATION OF THE EOYAL FAMILY. 



OLOED God of our salvation, who ; 
hast been exceedingly gracious 
unto this land, and by thy miraculous | 
Providence didst deliver us out of our | 
miserable confusions; by restoring to j 
us, and to his own just and undoubted | 
Eights, oiu' then most gracious Sovereign [ 
Lord, King Charles the Second, notwith- I 
standing all the power and malice of his i 
enemies ; and, by placing him on the \ 
Throne of these kingdoms, didst restore , 
also imto us the publick and free pro- j 
fession of thy true Eeligion and Worship, 
together with our former Peace and Pros- 
perity, to the great comfort and joy of 
oui' hearts : We are here now before 
thee, with all due thankfulness, to ac- 
knowledge thine unspeakable goodness 
herein, as upon this day shewed unto 
us, and to offer unto thee oui* sacrifice 
of praise for the same ; humbly beseech- 
ing thee to accept this our unfeigned, 
though im worthy oblation of om^selves ; 
vowing all holy obedience in thought, 
word and work, unto thy Divine Majesty ; 
and promising all loyal and dutiful Alle- 
giance to thine iVnointed Servant now 
set over us, and to her Heirs after her ; 
whom we beseech thee to bless with all 
increase of grace, honour and happiness, 
in this world, and to crown her with 
immortality and glory in the world to 
come, for Jesus Christ his sake our only 
Lord and Saviour. Amen. 

^ In the end of the Litany (which shall always 
this Bay he used) after the Collect [We 
humbly beseech thee,' O Father, <l;c.] shall 
this he said ivhich next followeth. 

A LMIGHTY God, who hast in aU 
JjL ages shewed forth thy power and 
mercy in the miraculous and gracious 
deliverances of thy Church, and in the 
protection of righteous and religious 
Kings and States, professing thy holy 
and eternal truth, from the malicious 
Conspiracies and wicked Practices of all 
their enemies ; we yield unto thee our 
unfeigned thanks and praise, as for thy j 
many other great and publick mercies, 
so especially for that signal and won- 
derful Deliverance, by thy wise and good 
Providence as upon this Day completed, 
and vouchsafed to oiu- then most gracious 
Sovereign King Charles the Second, and 
all the Eoyal Family, and in them, to 
this whole Chiu'ch and State, and all 
orders and degrees of men in both, from 
the unnatural Eebellion, Usurpation, and 

m 



Tyranny of ungodly and cruel men, and 
from the sad confusions and ruin there- 
upon ensuing. From all these, gra- 
cious and merciful Lord God, not our 
merit, but thy mercy ; not oui* foresight, 
but thy Providence ; not our ov^ia arm, 
but thy right hand, and thine arm, did 
rescue and deliver us. And therefore, 
not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but 
unto thy Name be ascribed all Honour, 
and Glory, and Praise, mth most humble 
and hearty thanks, in all Churches of the 
Saints : Even so blessed be the Lord our 
God, who alone doeth wondrous things, 
and blessed be the Name of his Majesty 
for ever ; thi'ough Jesus Christ om- Lord 
and only Saviour. Amen. 

^ In the Comviunion Service, immediately hef ore 
the reading of the Epistle, shall these ^ tioo 
Collects he used, instead of the Collect for the 
Queen and the Collect of the Day. 

O Almighty God, &c. ] As before 
Lord God of om* sal- ^ at 3Iorning 
vation, &e. J Prayer. 

The Ei?istle. 1 St. Pet. ii. 11. 

DEAELY beloved, I beseech you as 
strangers and pilgrims, abstain 
from fleshly lusts, which war against the 
soul ; having yom' conversation honest 
among the Gentiles : that, whereas they 
speak against you as evil-doers, they 
may, by your good works which they 
shall behold, glorify God in the day of 
visitation. Submit yom'selves to every 
ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; 
whether it be to the King, as sujDreme ; 
or unto Governours, as unto them that 
are sent by him for the punishment of 
evil-doers, and for the praise of them 
that do well. For so is the will of 
God, that with well-doing ye may put 
to silence the ignorance of foolish men : 
as free, and not using yom- liberty for a 
cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants 
of God. Honour all men. Love the 
brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the 
King. 

The Gospd. St. Matt. xxii. 16. 

AND they sent out unto him their 
disciples, with the Herodians, say- 
ing, Master, we know that thou art true, 
and teachest the way of God in truth, 
neither carest thou for any man ; for 
thou regardest not the person of men. 
Tell us therefore. What thinkest thou ? 
Is it lawful to give tribute imto Ciesar, 



THE EESTOEATION OF THE EOYAL FAMILY. 



or uot '? But J esiis perceived tlieir wick- 
edness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye 
liypocrites ? Shew me the tribute-money. 
And they brought unto him a peny. And 
he saith unto them, Whose is this image 
and superscription ? They say unto him, 
Ca3sar's. Then saith he unto them, 
Bender therefore unto Cassar the things 
which are Ctesar's ; and imto God the 
things that are God's. When they had 
heard^ these words, they marvelled, and 
left him, and went their way. 

IF In the Offertory shall this Sentence be read. 
OT every one that saith unto me. 
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven : but he that doeth 
the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
St. Matt. vii. 21. 

t ^ter the Prayer [For the whole state of 
Christ s Chm-ch, (fcc.J this Collect followinq 
shall he used. 

ALMIGHTY God and heavenly Fa- 
ther, who, of thine infinite and 
unspeakable goodness towards us, didst 
in a most extraordinary and wonderful 
manner disappoint and overthrow the 
wicked designs of those traitorous, heady 
and high-minded men, who, under the 
pretence of Eeligion and thy most holy 
Name, had contrived, and weU-nigh 
effected the utter destruction of this 
Church and Kingdom : As we do this 
day most heai-tily and devoutly adore and 



magnify thy glorious Name for this thine 
infinite goodness abeady vouchsafed to 
us ; so do we most humbly beseech thee 
to continue thy grace and favour towards 
I us, that no such dismal calamity may ever 
again fall upon us. Infatuate and defeafT 
all the secret counsels of deceitful and 1 
wicked men against us: Abate their pride, 1 
asswage their malice, and confound their \ 
devices. Strengthen the hands of our ! 
gracious Sovereign Queen VICTOBIA, 
and all that are put in authority under 
her, with judgement and justice to cut 
off all such workers of iniquity, as tui-n 
Eeligion into EebelHon, and Faith into 
Faction ; that they may never again j)re7 
vail against us, nor triumph in the ruin 
of the Monarchy and thy Chm-ch among 
us. Protect and defend our Sovereign 
Lady the Queen, with the whole Eoyal 
Family, from aU Treasons and Con- 
spiracies. Be unto her an helmet of 
salvation, and a strong tower of defence 
against the face of all her enemies; 
clothe them with shame and confusion, 
but upon Herself and her Posterity let 
the CroT^Ti for ever floimsh.. So we thy 
people, and the sheep of thy pasture, 
will give thee thanks for ever, and will 
always be showing forth thy praise from ■ 
generation to generation ; through Jesus 
Christ our only Saviour and Eedeemer, to 
whom, with thee, Father, and the Holy 
Ghost, be glory in the Chiu'ch thi'oughout 
all ages, world without end. Amen. 



NOTE. 

^^^^^i^^^te'!^^:^^ -ybe regarded as con- 

result of Divine mercy: Like the other offip.. kept m grateful remembrance as the 

in the reign of James^II The hvmS^fLwW ? T'^-'' ''''^'^ ^^^^ alteration 

place of another, supposed to he L^sn S toZ ^^'"^ ""'^'^'^ 

the 20th, 21st, 85th ind 118th hatw^ w' occasion New psalms were also mtroduced, 

areconsidered^scalcalld t?imp^^^^^^^^^ Pflj- and lessons 

plating the events referred to • ^r^Th^tiT °I ^'^"^ religious feeling m contem- 

which°appear to eii^Stween th^ ulii.t p -'f ^ P^'"^^^^^*^ *° ^^'^^^ ^.e analogies 

ought always to be done with c am otl S If t f ^^"^^^^f ^^.^'e^^^e and later times. But this 
respect; and then it wonTd hcyi heen f^^ L^^^^ °i '^'^^ ^-'^^^'^ ^'"^^ 

iect of reflection than to ^e^tr'^I^S^^ ^^^^l^ ^'^ '^^'^''^'^ 



608 



A FOEM OF PEAYER WITH THANKSGmNG 



TO ALMIGHTY GOD ; 

To be used in all Churches and Chapels within this Eealm, every Year, upon the 
Twentieth Day of June; heing the Day on which Her Majesty began Her happy 
Eeign. 



m The Service shaU he ihe same icitli the usual Ojj: - in all tilings ; except v:liere it is 

in this OMce othti ■ 

% If this Day shall happen to he Sunday, tJiis irliole Omee shall he used, as it follou-eth, entirely. 



^ 3Iorning Fra^er shoV.hegin icith these Sen- 

t^ncis. 

IEXHOPlT that fii'st of aU, Suppli- 
cations. Prayers. Intercessions, and 
giving of Thanks, be made for all men : 
for Kings, and for all that are in Autho- 
rity ; that we may lead a qniet and peace- 
able life, in all godliness and honesty : 
Tor this is good and accep)tabl8 nnto God 
OUT Saviour. 1 Tim. ii. 1. 2, 3, 

If we say that we have no sin. we 
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 
in ns : but. if we confess onr sins, he is 
faithful and just to forgive ns onj? sins, 
and to cleanse ns &om all nnrighteoiis- 
ness. 1 St. Johi i. 8. 9. 

% Instead or Tenite exiiltemns the Hymn foUoic- 
ing shall he said, or sung : one Terse hy t'te 
Priest, and another hy the Clerh and peop>le. 

OLOED om^ Governorii' : how ex- 
cellent is thy Xame in all the 
world I p. sal. viii. 1. 

Lord, irliat is man. thai thou hast 
such resiged unto liim : or the son of 
man. that thou so rerjardest Jiim ? Psal, 
cxliv. 3. 

- The merciful and gracious Lord hath 
so done his marvellons wriiks : that they 
onsht to be had in remembrance. PsaJ. 
cxi. 4. 

tliat men w-juJd fhtrefore priise 
the Lord for his ar>odiiess : and declare 
the wonders that h>: dndh for the children 
of raen! Psal. cvii. 21. 

Behold, God oiu? defender : and 
look upon the face of thine Anointed. 
Pscd. Ixxxiv. 9. 

Jiold tiiou ujj her goings in thy 



her foots" 



ejjs 



sli 



I' 



not. 



paths : thai 
Psal. xvii. 5. 

Grant the Queen a long life : and make 
her glad with the joy of thy countenance. 
Psal. Ixi. 6. & xxi. 6. 

Let her dwell hefo-re thee for ever : 
pypnnrp thu lorina rnerni anfl faith- 

699 



they Ynay p-eserve her. 



fulness, thai 
Psal. Ixi. 7. 

In her time let the righteons flonrish : 
and let ]}eace be in all onr borders. 
Psal. Ixxii. 7. 6: cxlvii. li. 

As for her enerdts. clothe them with 
shame : hut upon herself Jet her crown 
fliyurisli. Psal. cxxxii. 19. 

Blessed be the Lord God. even the 
God of Israel : which only doeth won- 
di"-ons things, Pscd. Ixxii. 18. 

And lltssed loe the Same of his Ma- 
jesty fyr ever : aVid odd the earth sliall 
he Tilled with his 3IaJest//. Amen. Amen. 
Yer. 19. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son : and to the Holy Ghost ; 

As it was in tlie hegiunina. is now, 
and ever shodl he : ivorld without end. 
Amen. 

Proper Psalms, sx, xxi, ci. 
Proper Lessons. 

Tlie First, Joshna i. to the end of the 
ninth Yerse. 
Te Deum. 
Tlie Second. Eom. xiii. 
Jiiudute D ':0. 

^ The Suifraqes next after tlie Creed sludl stand 
thus. 

Lord; shew thy mercy upon 



Priest. 
ns. 

Answer, 
Priest. 
Answer, 
thee. 

Priest. 
place. 

Answer. 
f^nd Inr. 

Priest. Let her enemies have no 
advantage against her. 

Answer. "Let not the wiched approach 
to hurt her. 



And grant us thy .salvation. 
Lord, save the Queen ; 
Who puttetTi her fi-ust in 

Send her help fi'om thy holy 

And evermore rnightihj de- 



A FOEM OF PEAYEE 



_ Priest. Endue tliy Ministers ydih 
righteousness. 

Answer. And mal'e tliy chosen people 
joyful 

Priest. Lord, save tliy people. 
Answer. And hless thine^ inheritance. 
Priest. Give peace in our time, 
Lord. 

Answer. Because there is none other 
that fighteth for us, hut only thou, God. 

Priest. Be unto us, Lord, a sti-ono^ 
tower ; ° 

Answer. From the face of our ene- 
mies. 

Priest. Lord, hear oui- i^rayer; 
Answer. And let our cry come unto 
thee. 

1 Instead of the iir^f CnlJ>?ct at 3Ir,rn Inq Frayer 
shall he used tlii^ i^^Unn-iuq Colltd ofThanh^- 
gh-ing for Her ' Majesty s Accession to the 
Throne. 

K LMIGHTY God, who rulest over 
all the kingdoms of the World, 
and disposest of them according to thy 
good pleasui-e ; We yield thee unfeigned 
thanks, for that thou wast pleased, al on 
this day, to place thy Servant our Sove- 
reign Lady, Queen VICTOPIA upon 
the thi'one of this Eealm. Let thy wis- 
dom be her guide, and let thine arm 
strengthen her; let justice, truth, and 
holmess, let peace and love, and all 
those vii'tues that adorn the Christian 
Profession, flomnsh in her days ; direct 
all her counsels and endeavoiu's to thy 
glory, and the welfare of her people; ; 
and give us grace to obey her cheerfully 
and willingly for conscience sake ; that 
neither oui- sinful passions, nor our pri- 
vate interests, may disai^point her cares 
for the pubiick good; let her always 
possess the hearts of her people, that 
they may never be wanting in honoui- to 
her Person, and dutiful submission to 
her Authority ; let her Pteign be long 
and prosperous, and cro^^n her with im- 
mortality in the life to cofae ; through ' 
Jesus Christ oiu- Lord. Amen. ' 
II In the end of the LitcinyWch shall always I 
be used upon this Day) after the Collect TWe ' 
nambly beseech thee, O Fatlier, d'c] shall 
the follo'wmg Prayer., for the QvJa and 
Fioyal Family, he used. 

OLOED our God, who upholdest and 
governest all things in heaven and 
earth ; receive our humble prayers with ' 
oiu' hearty thanksgivings, for our Sove- i 
reign Lady VICTOPJA, as on this day 
700 



set over us by thy gTace and providence 
to be om- Queen ; and so together with 
her bless Albert Edward Prince of Wcdes, 
and all the Eoyal Family ; that they all' 
ever trusting in thy goodness, protected 
by thy power, and crowned with thy 
gracious and endless favour, may con- 
tinue before thee in health, peace, joy, 
and honour, and may live long and 
happy lives upon earth, and after death 
obtain everlasting life and glory in the 
kingdom of heaven, by the Merits and 
Mediation of Christ Jesus om- Saviom-, 
I who with the Father and the Holy 
I Spirit, liveth and reigTieth ever one God, 
; world without end. Amen. 

Then shall follow this Collect, for God's jjro- 
fection of the Queen against all her enemies. 

MOST gracious God, who hast set thy 
servant VICTOEIA om: Queen 
upon the Thi'one of her Ancestors, we 
most humbly beseech thee to protect her 
on the same from all the dangers to which 
she maybe exposed; Hide her from the 
gathering together of the froward, and 
from the insuiTection of wicked doers ; 
Do thou weaken the hands, blast the 
designs, and defeat the enterprizes of all 
her enemies, that no secret conspiracies, 
nor open violences, may disquiet her 
EeigTL ; but that, being' safely kept under 
the shadow of thy wing, and supported 
by thy power, she may triumph over all 
opposition ; that so the world may ac- 
i knowledge thee to be her defender and 
mighty deliverer in all difficulties and 
adversities; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

% Then the Prayer for the High Court of 

Parliament {if sitting). 
1i In^ the Communion Service, immediately 
before the reading of the Hjristle, instead of 
the Collect for tJie Queen, and that of the 
Pay, shall he used this Prayer for the Queen, 
as sujrreme Governour of this Church. 

BLESSED Lord, who hast called 
Christian Princes to the defence 
of thy Faith, and hast made it their duty 
to promote the spiritual welfare, together 
with the temporal interest of their peo- 
ple ; We acknowledge with humble and 
thankful hearts thy great goodness to us, 
in setting thy Servant our most gi-acious 
Queen over this Church and Nation; 
Give her, we beseech thee, all those 
heavenly graces that are requisite for so 
high a trust; Let the work of thee her 
God prosper in her hands; Let her eyes 



FOE THE TWENTIETH OF JUNE. 



behold the success of her designs for the 
service of thy true Eeligion established 
amongst us ; And make her a blessed 
instrument of protecting and advancing 
thy Truth, wherever it is persecuted and 
oppressed ; Let Hypocrisy and Profane- 
ness, Superstition and Idolatry, fly before 
her face ; Let not Heresies and false 
Doctrines disturb the peace of theChurch, 
nor Schisms and causeless Divisions 
weaken it ; But grant us to be of one 
heart and one mind in serving thee our 
God, and obeying her according to thy 
will : And that these blessings may be 
continued to after-ages, let there never 
be one wanting in her house to succeed 
her in the government of this United 
Kingdom, that our posterity may see 
her children's children, and peace upon 
Israel. So we that are thy people, and 
sheep of thy pasture, shall give thee 
thanks for ever, and will always be 
shewing forth thy praise from generation 
to generation. A7nen. 

The Epistle. 1 St. Pet. ii. 11. 

DEAELY beloved, I beseech you as 
strangers and pilgrims, abstain 
from fleshly lusts, which war against the 
soul ; having your conversation honest 
among the Gentiles : that, whereas they 
speak against you as evil-doers, they 
may by your good works which they 
shall behold, glorify God in the day of 
visitation. Submit yourselves to every 
ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; 
whether it be to the liing, as supreme ; 
or unto governours, as unto them that 
are sent by him for the punishment of 
evil-doers, and for the praise of them that 
do well. For so is the will of God, that 
with well-doing ye may put to silence the 
ignorance of foolish men : as free, and 
not using your liberty for a cloke of 
maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. 
Fear God. Honour the King. 

The Gospel. St. Matt. xxii. 16. 

AND they sent out unto him their 
disciples, with the Herodians, say- 
ing. Master, we know that thou art true, 
and teachest the way of God in truth, 
neither carest thou for any man : for thou 
regardest not the person of men. Tell 
us therefore. What thinkest thou ? Is it 
lawful to give tribute unto Csesar, or 
not ? But Jesus perceived their wicked- 
701 



ness, and said. Why tempt ye me, yc 
hj'jDOcrites ? shew me the tribute-money. 
And they brought unto him a peny. And 
he saith unto them. Whose is this image 
and superscription ? They say unto him, 
Cesar's. Then saith he unto them, 
Eender therefore unto Csesar the things 
which are Caesar's ; and unto God the 
things that are God's. When they had 
heard these words, they marvelled, and 
left him, and went their way. 

% After the Niceiie Creed shall folloiv the 
Sei mon. 

^ In the Offertory shall this Sentence he read: 

LET your light so shine before men, 
that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your Father which is in 
heaven. St. Matth. v. 16. 

f After the Prayer [For the whole state of 
Christ's Church, (fee] these Collects foUoivhig 
shall he used. 

j A Prayer for Unity. 

OGOD the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, our only Saviour, the 
Prince of Peace ; Give us grace seri- 
ously to lay to heart the great dangers we 
are in by our unhappy divisions. Take 
away all hatred and prejudice, and what- 
soever else may hinder us from godly 
' Union and Concord : that, as there is 
but one Body, and one Spirit, and one 
1 Hope of our Calling, one Lord, one 
j Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father 
of us all, so we may henceforth be all of 
one heart, and of one soal, united in one 
holy bond of Truth and Peace, of Faith 
and Charity, and may with one mind and 
one mouth glorify thee ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

aEANT, Lord, we beseech thee, 
that the coui'se of this world may 
be so peaceably ordered by thy govern- 
ance, that thy Church may joyfully servo 
thee in all godly quietness, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

GEANT, we beseech thee, Almighty 
God, that the words, which we 
have heard this day with our outward 
ears, may through thy grace be so grafted 
inwardly in our hearts, that they may 
bring forth in us the fruit of good living, 
to the honour and praise of thy Name ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 




LMIGHTY God, the fountain of all 
wisdom, who knowest our neces- 



PEAYEK FOR THE TWENTIETH OF JUNE. 



sities before we ask, and our ignorance 
in asking; We beseech tliee to have 
compassion upon our infirmities ; and 
those things, which for our unworthiness 
we dare not, and for our blindness we 
cannot ask, vouchsafe to give us for the 
worthiness of thy Son Jesus. Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



THE peace of God which passeth aU 
understanding, keep your hearts 
and mmds in the knowledge and love of 
God, and of his Son Jesus Christ oui- 
Lord : And the blessing of God Almighty, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,' 
be amongst you, and remain with you 
always. Amen. 



" VICTOEIA R. 

OUR Will ancl -Pleasure is, That these Foui» Forms of Prayer and Service, made 
for the Fifth of November, the Thirtieth of January, the Twenty-ninth of 
u f """^ Twentieth of June, be forthwith printed and published, and annexed 
to the Book of Common Prayer and Liturgy of the United Church of England and 
Ireland, to be used yearly on the said Days, in all Cathedral and Collegiate 
Churches and Chapels; m all Chapels of Colleges and Halls within om^ Uni- 
varsities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and of Our Colleges of Eton and 
Winchester, and m all Parish- Churches and Chapels within those parts of Om- 
United Kingdom called England and L-eland. 

" Given at Our Court at Kensington the Twenty-first Day of 
"June, 1837, in the First Year of oui- Reign. 
" By Her Majesty's Command, 

" J. RUSSELL." 



NOTE. 

The observation of the day on which the reigning Sovereign ascended the throne is of verv 
ancient date. It originated ui that general sentiment of religion which taught society to com- 
Dine tlie recollection of all important events with the worship of Him by whom " kino-g reio-n 
and prmces decree judgment." Tlie custom was kept up in the English Church till interrupted 
Dy tJie rum ot the monarchy under Charles I., when, as is stated in the canon, "it received a lono- 
and doleful interruption, upon occasion of his murder, ^"hich changed the day on which Kiug 
Uiarles 11 succeeded to the crown mto a day of sorrow and fasting." On the accession of 
James II. the custom was renewed. In the reign of William III. it was again allowed to fall 
mto disuse, but was revived on the accession of Queen Anne. The service which had been 
cli-awn up by the bishops in the reign of James IE was adopted as the groundwork of tlie Office 
but several minor alterations were made to suit the different character of the times. In the review 
ot tiie Eiturgjr, the first lesson as used in the Office of King James was restored, that in the reign 
ot (^ueen Anne being Proverbs viii., fi"om verse 13 to the end. 



PRAYERS 

FOR THE 

LOED LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND. 



% A Prayer for the Chief Governour or Governours of Ireland, tohe used after the Prayer for the 
Royal Family in the Morning and Evening Service : or, when the lAiojij is used, after' the 
Prayer, ["We humbly beseech thee, &c.~\ 

f No Chief Goyernour is to he prayed for until he he sworn. 

t When there is a Lord Lieutenant, and also a Lord Deputy, or Lords Justices, then hoth shall he 

prayed for. 



ALMIGHTY God, from whom all 
power is derived, We humbly be- 
seech thee to bless thy Servant the Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland, and grant that lie 
may use the Sword Yv^hich our Sovereign 
Lady the Queen hath committed into his 
hand, with justice, and mercy, according 
\ to thy blessed Will, for the protection of 
\ this People, and the true Religion esta- 
I blished amongst us : Enlighten Mm with 
j thy Grace, preserve Mm by thy Provi- 
1 dence, and encompass Mm with thy Fa- 
vour. Bless, we beseech thee, the whole 
Council, direct their Consultations to the 
j advancement of thy Glory, the good of 
I thy Church, the honom* of her sacred 
Majesty, and the safety and welfare of 
this Kingdom.: Grant this, O merciful 
Father, for Jesus Christ his sake, our 
only Saviom^ and Redeemer. Amen. 



Or, 

ALMIGHTY God, in whose hands all 
earthly power doth consist, We 

humbly beseech thee to bless [ J 

Lord Lieutenant General, and General 
Governour of Ireland : And grant that the 
Sword vfhich our dread Sovereign Lady 
the Queen hath committed into Ms hand, 
lie may wield in thy faith and fear, and 
use according to thy blessed Will and 
Word : Let thy Grace enlighten Mm, thy 
Goodness confirm Mm, and thyProvidence 
protect Mm. Bless, we beseech thee, the 
whole Council, direct their Consultations 
to the advancement of thy Glory, the good 
of thy Church, the honour of lier sacred 
Majesty, and the safety and welfare of 
this Kingdom. Grant this, merciful 
Father, for Jesus Christ his sake, our 
only Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. 



703 



ARTICLES 

AGEEED UPON BY 

THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS OF BOTH PEOVINCES 
AND THE WHOLE CLERGY, 

Li the Convocation liolden at London in the Year 1562, for the avoiding of Diveisities of 
Opinions and for the establishing of Consent touching trne Religion : EepiS bv 
Hi. Majesty s Commandment, with his Eoyal Declaration prefixed thereunto ^ 

HIS MAJESTY'S DECLARATION. 
~DEING ly God's Ordinance, according to Our just Title Defendpr of tl.a T.-o;fi i 

p ohiUtmg the least difermce from the said Articles ; which to that End WycZnmnd to 
he new panted, and this Our Declaration to he puUiM therervith. ^^^^^r>iand to 

mat We are Supreme Governour of the Church of Eno-land • And that m-.. n--ff 

That out of Our Princely Care that the Churchmen may do the Work which is vrover 
1^1 r'zzt ^f-^'' ^red Clergy, from time to time in Convocation X^n^^^^^ 
Des e, shall have Licence under Our Broad Seal to deliberate of and to do a I such ST^^^^ 
TftlTVT ^'^Tn^ ' ^'-^ ""'"''''"^ ^'^^^ <^o^^^rn the settZ contLulc^^ 

tin l^^7"" ""'"^ ./ the Church of England now estahlished ; /om M 

will not endure any varying or departing in the least Degree. ^ 

thF^IJ^rnl^^^^^^^^ ^Ao^e^A some differences have heen ill raised, yet We take comfort in 

Mi^^^LS^F'::^^^'''' ^''t' -^--2/^ ^^ost wdingly sulscriQ to e 

^ tides e.tablisho,d which IS an argument to Us, that they all agree in the true usual literal 
meaning of the said Artules ; and that even in those curious points, in w chTp^' 
differences lie, men of all sm^ts take the Articles of the Church if England to Vfl/lj^^^^^^ 
M^s an argument again, that none of tliei intend any dserti^i of tZ iZefZ^ 

hiM^^ulT^^^^ '''''' f f^^ ^^^'^^^^^TPydiffWences, which have for so many 

Ttr% y'^^''^'"' different times and places, exercised the Church of Christ, We will that 
f further curious search he laid aside, and these dispute, shut up in Gods prZ Ct 

tfherltf n 7 . ^7 ^^S^f°^, according to them. And that no man hereafter shall 

^ /W7 ; ' '^' P'^'if'^ to draio the Article aside any ^oay, hut shall suhmit to it v^ml Mn 

me ^, tide, but shall take it in the literal and grammatical sense. ^ 
(^ciuf. ''"^ ^1 ''^^'''^ ^^^^ TJniversities, or any Head or Master of a 

S ' :;Sf':;./^?;:;r^T1?^^-'^^ -^^..^ .a.., sLu a/, any new senTto Vy 
ilch t; he "'^r- ;^^^:;;TV' f ^^^^^ msputaHon, or suffer an'y 

n:.,: ..^- +i ' '^r"^'.'. ' !j, < rtho, imversities or Colleges respectively: or if anv 



ARTICLES OF EELIGION. 



I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinitij. 

THEEE is but one living and true 
God, everlasting, without body, 
parts, or passions ; of infinite power, 
wisdom, and goodness ; the Maker, and 
Preserver of all things both visible and 
invisible. And in unity of this Godhead 
there be three Persons, of one substance, 
power, and eternity; the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

II. Of the Word or Son of God, which was 
made very Man, 

THE Son, which is the Word of the 
Father, begotten from everlasting 
of the Father, the very and eternal God, 
and of one substance with the Father, ' 
took Man's nature in the womb of the \ 
blessed Virgin, of her substance : so that 
two whole and perfect Natures, that is to 
say, the Godhead and Manhood, were 
joined together in one Person, never to 
be divided, whereof is one Christ, very 
God, and very Man ; who truly suffered, 
was crucified, dead and buried, to re- 
concile his Father to us, and to be a 
sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but 
also for actual sins of men. | 

in. Of the going down of Christ into \ 
Bell. ! 

AS Christ died for us, and was bui-ied, j 
so also is it to be believed, that he 
went down into Hell. 

IV. Of the Resurrection of Christ. j 

CHRIST did truly rise again from 
death, and took again his body, 
with flesh, bones, and all things apper- 
taining to the perfection of Man's nature ; I 
wherewith he ascended into Heaven, and i 
there sitteth, until he return to judge all 
Men at the last day. 

V. Of the Holy Ghost. \ 

THE Holy Ghost, proceeding from the \ 
Father and the Son, is of one sub- i 
stance, majesty, and glory, with the Fa- ' 
ther and the Son, very and eternal God. 

VI. Of the Sufficiency of the iioJy Scriptures I 
for Salvation. \ 

HOLY Scripture containeth all things ■ 
necessary to salvation : so that 
whatsoever is not read therein, nor may 
be proved thereby, is not to be required 
705 



of any man, that it should be believed as 
an article of the Faith, or be thought 
requisite or necessary to salvation. In 
the name of the holy Scripture we do 
understand those canonical Books of the 
Old and New Testament, of whose autho- 
rity was never any doubt in the Chm^ch. 

Of the Names and Numher of the Canonical 
Books. 

{lENESIS, 

^ Exodus, 

Leviticus, 

Numbers, 

D enter 07iomy, 

Joshua, 

Judges, 

Mutli, 

The First Booh of Samuel, 
The Second Booh of Samuel, 
The First Booh of Kings, 
The Second Booh of Kings, 
The First Booh of Chronicles, 
TJie Second Booh of Chronicles, 
The First Booh of Esdras, 
The Second Booh of Esdras, 
The Booh of Esther, 
The Booh of Job, 
■ The Psalms, 
The Proverbs, 
Ecclesiastes or Preacher, 
Cantica, or Songs of Solomon, 
Four Prophets the greater, 
Twelve Prophets the less. 

And the other Books (as Hierome 
saith) the Church doth read for example 
of life and instruction of manners ; but 
yet doth it not apply them to establish 
any doctrine ; such are these following : 

The Third Booh of Esdras, 

The Fourth Booh of Esdras, 

The Booh of Tobias, 

The Booh of Judith, 

The rest of the Booh of Esther, 

The Booh of Wisdom, 

Jesus the Son of Sirach, 

Baruch the Prophet, 

The Song of the Three Children, 

The Story of Suscmna, 

Of Bel and the Dragon, 

The Prayer of Manasses, 

The First Booh of Maccabees, 

The Second Booh of Maccabees. 

All the Books of the New Testament, 
4 X 



AETICLES OF EELiaiON. 



as they are commonly received, we do 
receive, and account them Canonical. 

YII. Of the Old Testament. 

THE Old Testament is not contrary 
to the New : for both in the Old 
and New Testament everlasting life is 
offered to Mankind by Christ, who is the 
only Mediator between God and Man, 
being both God and Man. Wherefore 
they are not to be heard, which feign that 
the old Fathers did look only for transi- 
tory promises. Although the Law given 
from God by Moses, as touching Ceremo- 
nies and Eites, do not bind Christian men, 
nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of 
necessity to be received in any common- 
wealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian 
man whatsoever is free from the obedi- 
ence of the Commandments which are 
called Moral. 

YIII. Of the Tliree Creeds. 

THE Three Creeds, Mcene Creed, 
Athanasius's Creed, and that which 
is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, 
ought thoroughly to be received and 
believed : for they may be proved by 
most certain warrants of holy Scriptm^e. 

IX. Of Original or Birth-sin. 'i 

OEIGINAL Sin standeth not in the 
following of Adam, (as the Fela- 
gians do vainly talk ;) but it is the fault 
and corruption of the Nature of every 
man, that naturally is ingendered of the 
offspring of Adam ; whereby man is YeTy 
far gone from original righteousness, and 
is of his own natm-e inclined to evil, so 
that the flesh lusteth always contrary to 
the spirit ; and therefore in every person 
born into this world, it deserveth God's 
wrath and damnation. And this infec- 
tion of nature doth remain, yea in them 
that are regenerated ; whereby the lust 
of the flesh, called in the Greek, ^p6vr)iia 
fxapKoc, which some do expound the wis- ' 
dom, some sensuality, some the affection, 
some the desire, of the flesh, is not subject 
to the Law of God. And although there | 
is no condemnation for them that believe 
and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth 
confess, that concupiscence and lust hath 
of itself the nature of sin. 

X. Of Free- Will. 

THE condition of Man after the fall of 
Adam is such, that he cannot turn 
706 



and prepare himself, by his own natural 
strength and good works, to faith, and 
I calling upon God : Wherefore we have 
' no power to do good works pleasant and 
J acceptable to God, without the grace of 
j God by Chi'ist preventing us, that we 
I may have a good will, and working with 
I us, when we have that good will. 

XI. Of the Just if cation of Man. 

WE are accounted righteous before 
God, only for the merit of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, 
and not for our own works or deservings : 
Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith 
only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and 
very full of comfort, as more largely is 
expressed in the Homily of Justification. 

XII. Of Good Works, 

ALBEIT that Good Works, which 
are the fruits of Faith, and follow 
after Justification, cannot j)nt away our 
sins, and endure the severity of God's 
Judgement ; yet are they pleasing and 
acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring 
out necessarily of a true and lively Faith ; 
insomuch that by them a lively Faith 
may be as evidently known aS a tree 
discerned by the fruit. 

XIII. Of Works before Just if cation. 

WORKS done before the grace of 
Christ, and the Inspiration of 
his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, for- 
asmuch as they spring not of faith in 
Jesus Christ, neither do thej^ make men 
meet to receive grace, or (as the School- 
authors say) deserve grace of congruity : 
yea rather, for that they are not done as 
God hath willed and commanded them 
to be done, we doubt not but they have 
the nature of sin. 

XI Y. Of Works of Supererogation. 

VOLUNTAEY Works besides, over 
and above, God's Commandments, 
which they call Works of Supererogation , 
cannot be taught without arrogancy and 
impiety : for by them men do declare, 
that they do not only render unto God 
as much as they are boimd to do, but that 
they do more for his sake, than of bounden 
duty is required : whereas Christ saith 
plainly, When ye have done all that are 
commanded to you, say, We are unj^ro- 
fi table servants. 



AETICLES OF EELIGION. 



XY. Of Christ alone ivithout Hi/i. 

C HEIST in the truth of oiir nature 
was made like unto us in all things, 
sin only except, from which he was 
clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his 
spirit. He came to be the Lamb with- 
out spot, who, by sacrifice of himself 
once made, should take away the sins of 
the world, and sin, as Saint John saith, 
was not in him. But all we the rest, 
although baptized, and born again in 
Christ, yet offend in many things ; and 
if we say we have no sin, we deceive 
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

XYI. Of S 171 after Baptism. 

NOT every deadly sin willingly com- 
mitted after Baptism is sin against 
the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. 
Wherefore the grant of repentance is 
not to be denied to such as fall into sin 
after Baptism, After we have received 
the Holy Ghost, we may depart from 
grace given, and fall into sin, and by the 
grace of God we may arise again, and 
amend our lives. And therefore they 
are to be condemned, which say, they 
can no more sin as long as they live 
here, or deny the place of forgiveness to 
such as truly repent. 

X VII. Of Predestination and Election . 

PEEDESTINATION to Life is the 
everlasting purpose of God, whereby 
(before the foundations of the world were 
laid) he hath constantly decreed by his 
counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse 
and damnation those whom he hath chosen 
in Christ out of mankind, and to bring 
them by Christ to everlasting salvation, 
as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, 
they which be endued with so excellent 
a benefit of God be called according to 
God's purpose by his Spirit working in 
due season : they through Grace obey 
the calling : they be justified freely : they 
be made sons of God by adoption : they 
be made like the image of his only- 
begotten Son Jesus Christ : they walk 
religiously in good works, and at length, 
by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting 
felicity. 

As the godly consideration of Predes- 
tination, and our Election in Christ, is 
full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable 
comfort to godly persons, and such as 
feel in themselves the working of the 
Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of 
707 



the flesh, and their earthly members, 
and drawing up their mind to high and 
heavenly things, as well because it doth 
greatly establish and confirm their faith 
of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through 
Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle 
their love towards God : So, for curious 
and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of 
Christ, to have continually before their 
eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, 
is a most dangerous downfal, whereby 
the Devil doth thrust them either into 
desperation, or into wretchlessness of 
most unclean living, no less perilous than 
desperation. 

Furthermore, we must receive God's 
promises in such wise, as they be gene- 
rally set forth to us in holy Scripture : 
and, in our doings, that Will of God -is 
to be followed, which we have expressly 
declared unto us in the Word of God. 

XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation o)dy 
hy the Name of Christ. 

THEY also are to be had accursed 
that presume to say, That every 
man shall be saved by the Law or Sect 
which he professeth, so that he be dili- 
gent to frame his life according to that 
Law, and the light of Nature. For holy 
Scripture doth set out unto us only the 
Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must 
be saved. 

XIX. Of the Church. 

THE visible Church of Christ is a 
congregation of faithful men, in 
the which the pure Word of God is 
preached, and the Sacraments be duly 
ministered according to Christ's ordi- 
nance in all those things that of necessity 
are requisite to the same. 

As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexan- 
dria, and Antioch, have erred ; so also 
the Church of Bo-me hath erred, not only 
in their living and manner of Ceremonies, 
but also in matters of Faith. 

XX. Of the Authority of the Church. 

THE Church hath power to decree 
Eites or Ceremonies, and authority 
in Controversies of Faith : And yet it is 
not lawful for the Church to ordain any 
thing that is contrary to God's Word 
written, neither may it so expound one 
place of Scriptui-e, that it be repugnant 
to another. Wherefore, although the 
Church be a witness and a keeper of 



AETICLES OF RELIGION. 



lioly Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree 
any tiling against the same, so besides 
the same ought it not to enforce any 
thing to be believed for necessity of Sal- 
vation. 

XXI. Of the Authority of General Councils, 
ENERAL Councils may not be 
gathered together without the com- 
mandment and wiU of Princes. And 
when they be gathered together, (foras- 
much as they be an assembly of men, 
whereof all be not governed with the 
Spirit and Word of God,) they may err, 
and sometimes have erred, even in things 
pertaining unto God. Wherefore things 
ordained by them as necessary to salva- 
tion have neither strength nor authority, 
unless it may be declared that they be 
taken out of holy Scripture. 

XXIL Of Purgatory. 

THE Romish Doctrine concerning 
Piu-gatory, Pardons, Worshipping 
and Adoration, as well of Images as of 
Reliques, and also invocation of Saints, 
IS a fond thing vainly invented, and 
grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, 
but rather repugnant to the Word of God.' 

XXIII. Of Min istering in the Congre- 
gation. 

IT is not lawful for any man to take 
upon him the office of publick preach- 
ing, or ministering the Sacraments in the I 
Congregation,b8fore he be lawfully called, 
and sent to execute the same. And those 
we ought to judge lawfully called and 
sent, which be chosen and called to this 
work by men who have publick authority 
given unto them in -the Congregation, to 
call and send Ministers into the Lord's 
vineyard. 

XXIV. Of sioeahwg in the Congregation 
in such a tongue as the i^eo])le under- 
standeth. 

IT is a thing plainly repugnant to the 
Word of God, and the custom of the 
Primitive Church, to have publick Prayer 
m the Church, or to minister the Sacra- 
ments m a tongue not imderstanded of 
the people. 

XXV. Of the Sacraments. 
n ACRAMENTS ordained of Christ 
O be not only badges or tokens of > 
708 ' 



! Christian men's profession, but rather 
! they be certain sure witnesses, and effect- 
ual signs of grace, and God's good will 
■ towards us, by the which he doth work 
invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, 
but also strengthen and confirm oui* Eaith 
in him. 

There are two Sacraments ordained of 
Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to 
say. Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. 

Those five commonly called Sacra- 
ments, that is to say, Confirmation, 
Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and ex- 
treme Unction, are not to be counted for 
Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as 
have grown partly of the corrupt follow- 
ing of the Apostles, partly are states of 
life allowed in the Scriptures ; but yet 
have not like nature of Sacraments with 
Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, for that 
they have not any visible sign or cere- 
mony ordained of God. 

The Sacraments were not ordained of 
Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried 
about, but that we should duly use them. 
And in such only as worthily receive the 
same they have a wholesome effect or 
operation : but they that receive them 
unworthily purchase to themselves dam- 
nation, as Saint Paul saith. 

XXVI. Of the Unworfhiness of the Minis- 
ters^ which hinders not the effect of the 
Sacrament. 

ALTHOUGH in the visible Church 
the evil be ever mingled with the 
good, and sometimes the evil have chief 
authority in the Ministration of the W ord 
and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they 
do not the same in their own name, but 
in Christ's, and do minister by his com- 
mission and authority, we may use their 
Ministry, both in hearing the Word 
of God, and in receiving of the Sacra- 
ments. Neither is the eff'ect of Christ's 
ordinance taken away by their wicked- 
ness, nor the grace of God's gifts dimi- 
nished from such as by faith and rightly 
do receive the Sacraments ministered 
unto them ; which be effectual, because 
of Christ's institution and promise, al- 
though they be ministered by evil men. 

Nevertheless, it aj^pertaineth to the 
discipline of the Church, that enquiry be 
made of evil Ministers, and that they be 
accused by those that have knowledge of 
their offences ; and finally being found 
guilty, by just judgement be deposed. 



G 



AETICLES OF EELiaiON. 



XXTJT. Of Baptism. 

BAPTISM is not only a sign of pro- 
fession, and mark of difference, 
whereby Christian men are discerned 
fi'om others that be not chi-istened, but it 
is also a sign of Regeneration or new 
Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, 
they that receiye BajDtism rightly are 
gi-afted into the Church ; the promises 
of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption 
to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, j 
are visibly signed and sealed ; Faith is i 
confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue I 
of prayer unto God. The Baptism of j 
young Children is in any wise to be re- 
tained in the Church, as most agreeable 
with the institution of Christ. 

XXYIII. Of the LonVs Supper, 
n^HE Supper of the Lord is not only 
J_ a sign of the love that Christians 
ought to have among themselves one to 
another ; but rather is a Sacrament of 
our Eedemption by Christ's death : inso- 
much that to such as rightly, worthily, 
and ^ith faith, receive the same, the 
Bread which we break is a partaking of 
the Body of Christ; and likewise the j 
Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the \ 
Blood of Christ. j 

Transubstantiation (or the change of | 
the substance of Bread and Wine) in the i 
Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by | 
holy Writ ; but is repugnant to the plain | 
words of Scripture, overthroweth the i 
natm-e of a Sacrament, and hath given ! 
occasion to many superstitions. I 

The Body of Christ is given, taken, | 
and eaten, in the Supper, only after an j 
heavenly and spiritual manner. And 
the mean whereby the Body of Christ is 
received and eaten in the Supper is Faith. 

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
was not by Chi'ist's ordinance reserved, 
carried about, lifted up, or worshipped. 

XXIX. Of the Wicked luhich eat not the 
Body of Christ in the use of the Lord's 
Supper. 

THE Wicked, and such as be void of 
a lively faith, although they do 
carnally and visibly press with their teeth 
(as Saint Augustine saith) the Sacrament 
of the Body and Blood of Christ, yet in 
no wise are they partakers of Christ : but 
rather, to their condemnation, do eat and 
drink the sign or Sacrament of so great 
a thing. 

709 



XXX. Oflothkirals. 

THE Cup of the Lord is not to be 
deniedto the Lay-people : for both 
the parts of the Lord's Sacrament, by 
Christ's ordinance and commandment, 
ought to be ministered to all Christian 
men alike. 

XXXI. Of the one Ohlation of Christ 
finished upon fhe Cross. 

THE Offering of Christ once made is 
that perfect redemption, propitia- 
tion, and satisfaction, for all the sins of 
the whole world, both original and actual; 
and there is none other satisfaction for 
sin, but that alone. Wherefore the sacri- 
fices of Masses, in the which it was 
commonly said, that the Priest did offer 
Chi'ist for the quick and the dead, to 
have remission of pain or guilt, were blas- 
phemous fables, and dangerous deceits. 

XXXII. Of the Marriage of Priests. 

BISHOPS, Priests, and Deacons, are 
not commanded by God's Law, 
either to vow the estate of single life, or 
to abstain from marriage : therefore it is 
laT\^iil for them, as for all other Chris- 
tian men, to marry at theii' own discre- 
tion, as they shall judge the same to 
serve better to godliness. 

XXXIII. Of excommunicate Persons, how 
they are to he avoided. 

THAT person which by open denun- 
ciation of the Church is rightly cut 
off from the unity of the Church, and 
excommunicated, ought to be taken of 
the whole multitude of the faithful, as 
an Heathen and Publican, imtil he be 
openly reconciled by penance, and re- 
ceived into the Chm-ch by a Judge that 
hath authority thereunto, 

XXXIY. OftJie Traditions of the Church. 

IT is not necessary that Traditions 
and Ceremonies be in all places one, 
and utterly like ; for at all times they 
have been divers, and may be changed 
according to the diversities of countries, 
times, and men's manners, so that no- 
thing be ordained against God's Word. 
Whosoever through his private judge- 
ment, willingly and purposely, doth 
openly break the traditions and ceremo- 
nies of the Church, which be not repug- 
nant to the Word of God, and be 
ordained and approved by common 



AETICLES OF EELIGION. 



autliority,- ought to be rebuked openly, 
(that others may fear to do the like,) as he 
that oftendeth against the common order 
of the Church, and hurteth the authority 
of the Magistrate, and woundeth the 
consciences of the weak brethren. 

Every particular or national Church 
hath authority to ordain, change, and 
abolish, ceremonies or rites of the Church 
ordained only by man's authority, so that 
all things be done to edifying. 

XXXA^. Of the Homilies. 

THE second Book of Homilies, the 
several titles whereof \m have 
joined under this Article, doth contain 
a godly and wholesome Doctrine, and 
necessary for these times, as doth the 
former Book of Homilies, which were 
set forth in the time of Edimrd the 
Sixth ; and therefore we judge them to 
be read in Churches by the Ministers, 
diligently and distinctly, that they may 
be understanded of the people. 

Of the N:imes of the Homilies. 

1 QF the right Use of the Church. 

2 Against peril of Idolatry. 

8 Of repairing and keeping clean of 
Churches. 

4 Of good Works : first of Fasting. 

5 Against Gluttony and Brunkenness. 

6 Against Excess of Apparel. 

7 Of Prayer. 

8 Of the Place and Time of Prayer. 

9 That Common Prayers and Sacra- 

ments ought to he ministered in a 
knoion tongue. 

10 Of the reverend estimation of God's 

Word. 

11 Of Alms-doing. 

12 Of the Nativity of Christ. 

13 Of the Passion of Christ. 

11 Of the Besurrection of Christ. 

15 Of the ivorthy receiving of the Sacra- 

ment of the Body and Blood of 
Christ. 

16 Of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. 

17 For the Bogation-days. 

18 Of the staie of Matrimony. 

19 Of Bepentance. 

20 Against Idleness. 

21 Against Bebellion. 



XXXVL Of Co, 



Mi 



of Bishops and 



rpHE Book of Consecration of Arch- I 
J_ bishops and Bishoj^s, and Ordering 
710 



of Priests and Deacons, lately set forth 
in the time of Edward the Sixth, and 
confirmed at the same time by authority 
of Parliament, doth contain all things 
necessary to such Consecration and 
Ordering : neither hath it any thing, that 
of itself is superstitious and ungodly. 
And therefore whosoever are consecrated 
or ordered according to the Rites of that 
Book, since the second year of the fore- 
named King Edward unto this time, or 
hereafter shall be consecrated or ordered 
according to the same Rites ; we decree 
all such to be rightly, orderly, and law- 
fully consecrated and ordered. 

XXXVII. Of the Civil Magistrates. 
rilHE Queen's Majesty hath the chief 
X power in this realm of England, 
and other her Dominions, unto whom 
the chief Government of all Estates of 
this Realm, whether they be Ecclesi- 
astical or Civil, in all causes doth apper- 
tain, and is not, nor ought to be, subject 
to any foreign Jurisdiction. 

Where we attribute to the Queen's 
Majesty the chief government, by which 
Titles we understand the minds of some 
slanderous folks to be offended ; we give 
not to our Princes the ministering either 
of God's Word, or of the Sacraments, 
the which thing the Injunctions also 
lately set forth by Elizaheth our Queen 
do most plainly testify ; but that only 
prerogative, which we see to have been 
given always to all godly Princes in 
holy Scriptures by God himseif ; that is, 
that they should rule all states and 
degrees committed to their charge by 
God, whether they be Ecclesiastical or 
Temporal, and restrain with the civil 
sword the stubborn and evil-doers. 

The Bishop of Bome hath no juris- 
diction in this Realm of England. 

The Laws of the Realm may punish 
Christian men with death, for heinous 
and grievous offences. 

It is lawful for Christian men, at the 
commandment of the Magistrate, to wear 
weapons, and serve in the wars. 

XXXVIII. Of Christian men's Goods, ivhich 
are not common. 

THE Riches and Goods of Christians 
are not common, as touching the 
right, title, and possession of the same, 
as certain Anabaptists do falsely boast. 
Notwithstanding,e very man ought, of such 



AETICLES OF KELIGION. 



tilings as he possesseth, liberally to give 
alms to the poor, according to his ability. 

XXXIX. Of a Christ ian man" s Oath. 

AS we confess that vain and rash 
Swearing is forbidden Christian 
men by our Lord Jesus Christ, and 



j James his Apostle, so we judge, that 
Christian Eeligion doth not prohibit, but 
that a man may swear when the Magis- 
trate rec[uireth, in a cause of faith and 
charity, so it be done according to the 
Prophet's teaching, in justice, judge- 
ment, and truth. 



THE EATIFICATION. 
fJ^HIS Booh of Articles hefore rehearsed, is again approved, and alloived to he holden a7id 
executed within the Realm, ly the assent and consent of our Sovereign Lady 
ELIZABETH, hy the grace of Qod, of England, France, and Ireland, Queen, Defender of 
the Faith, &c. Which Articles luere delilerately read, and confirmed again ly the subscrip- 
tion of the hands of the ArchUshops a7id Bishops of the Upper-house, and hy the suhscription 
of the whole Clergy of the Nether-house in their Convocation, in the Year of our Lord 1571. 



NOTE. 

Aeticles of Rehgion were published, by order of Henry VIII., in the year 1536. They were of 
that mixed character which it might be expected a summary of faith would assume in the then 
unsettled state of the Church. In 1552 Edward VI. issued a series of Articles, forty-two in 
number, and which had been drawn up and signed by the two Houses of Convocation. They 
afforded a full and clear view of the tenets of the Reformed Church of England. These Articles 
were set aside in the reign of Mary ; but in the year 1562 Queen Elizabeth confirmed the Tiiirty- 
Xine Articles as agreed upon " by the Archbishops and Bishops of both provinces, and the whole 
Clergy, in the Convocation holden at London." As they were pubUshed only in Latin, the mass 
of the people could derive from them no additional information respecting the doctrines of theh 
Cliureh. When they were revised, therefore, in 1571, the Convocation signed an English, as well 
as the Latin, copy of the Articles. Cranmer and Eidley are said to have been chiefly concerned 
in framing the original sketch of the Articles ; but Bishop Burnet expressly observes, that most 
of the bishops and eminent divines of the day were consulted on the subject, and invited to give 
their assistance in drawing up this grand statement of doctrine for the national Church. 




A TABLE OF THE ARTICLES. 



9. 
30. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 



. F Faith in the holy Trinity. 

Of Christ the Son of God. 
. Of his going doivn into Bell. 
■ Of his Resurrection. 

Of the Holy Ghost. 

Of the Sufficiency of the Scripttire. 

Of the Old Testamen t. 

Of the TJiree Creeds. 

Of Original or Birth-sin. 

Of Free-will. 

Of Justification. 

Of good Works. 

Of Worlcs hefore Justification. 

Of Works of Supererogation. 

Of Christ alone without Sin. 

Of Sin after Baptism. 

Of Predestination and Election. 
Of oUaining Salvation ly Christ. 
Of the Church. 

Of the Authority of the Church. 



21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 



Of the Authority of General Councils. 
Of Purgatory. 

Of Ministering in the Congregation. 
Of Speahing in the Congregation. 
Of the Sacraments. 
Of the Unworthiness of Ministers. 
Of Baptism. 
Of the Lord's Supper. 
Of the Wicked which eat not the Body of 
Christ. 

30. Of hoth kinds. 

31. Of Christ's one Oblation. 

32. Of the Marriage of Priests. 

33. Of Excommunicate Persons. 

34. Of the Traditions of the Church. 

35. Of the Homilies. 

36. Of Consecrating of Ministers. 

37. Of Civil Magistrates. 

38. Of Christian men's Goods. 

39. Of a Christian man's Oath. 



THE END. 



LOXDOX: PRIXTED BV U^LLrAM CLOWKS AXD SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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